Customs No Tarif on Optical Telescopes/Binoculars/Mountings

[netwolf]

Hi All,

Well I have looked into this a little further and looks like, If I am reading this correctly there is not 5% tariff on Astronomy gear.

http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=4273
See Schedule 3 - Chapter 90 Notes - (search for 9005 in this pdf)
http://www.customs.gov.au/webdata/resources/tariff/chapter90notes.pdf

then look up 9005 in this list of tariffs.
"Goods - 9001 to 9021.10.20"
http://www.customs.gov.au/webdata/resources/tariff/chapter90goods_a.pdf
Note its free.

However I belive GST would still applied on items above 1000$, This is applied on the price + shipping/handling + insurance.

Regards
Fahim

[Striker]

Correct Fahim.

Just the 10% GST for cost + Shipping on items over $1000 total

There is also a fee from Customs and lots of paperwork that will apply if over $1000.

This is where the decision you make who carry's your gear will make a huge difference.

USPS or Government run post for items below $1000
UPS or Fedex or any private courier for items over $1000.

This way it's a lot less of a head ache.

[netwolf]

Why not USPS for items over 1000$?

How do customs value 2nd hand items? If for example its purchased via a private deal from astromart etc.

Regards
Fahim

[netwolf]

One more thing should not the GST be applied on the amount over 1000$ not the base 1000$. Knowing the government probably not, but explain why is 1000 GST free and 1001 not GST free. I mean for 1$ more you have to $100.50 GST, where as if its 1000 you pay nothing.. Sounds odd.

Regards
Fahim

[Striker]

Yep sounds odd but true...actualy you will be paying $150 for an item $1001 adding the custom fee.

That's why overseas purchases under the $1000AUD are a good investment.

Being second hand makes no difference it just goes on the value.

Yes offcourse you can use USPS for items over the $1000 but you will regret it because you will have to fill out all the custom forms and make payment direct to customs which can delay your delivery by 2 weeks...11 days in my case and about 4 hours of my time.

Using a private coureer they do this all for you with no delays at all...they do apply a small fee but I have done this both ways and I will never use USPS again for items over $1000.....it's just too painfull and time consuming.

but by all means try it and let me know how you feal afterwards....lol

[astronut]

Fahim,
As much as we (collectively) don't like it there has to be a cutoff somewhere. If they made it $2000, someone would complain because their bill was $2001, and they had to pay tax and other charges on that:)

[netwolf]

John

Of course there should be a cutof. What I am suggesting is similar to income tax where the first 6000$ are tax free and tax is applied for anything earned above that ammount. So in this example for $1001 that GST should be applied on $1 not $1000. Otherwise its inherently unjust.

Regards
Fahim

[astronut]

Agreed!!:D

[Striker]

Yep thats why the retailers arn't happy about it...they get charged GST because they have large orders where by we can order the same gear GST free.

Good for consumers not for retailers.

[wavelandscott]

Not to start a debate on GST as I am not an accountant but as I understand it, GST is mostly neutral for a retailer as GST gets passed on to the consumer...it is really not a tax on business but consumption...

That is, a business offsets the GST paid on buying goods with the GST collected at sales time and pays the difference to the government...so assuming that you sell what you buy, it should be tax neutral...it can and does however have an impact on cash flow...but that is a different story...

Cheers...