Online/overseas shopping about to change re GST

[troypiggo (Troy)]

Wonder how this is going to affect online shoppers saving on GST in future.

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2018-0...tralia/9820224

[glend (Glen)]

There is another thread about this topic.

[troypiggo (Troy)]

The ABC news article was only posted 2 hours ago. I didn’t see a duplicate thread posted in last 2 hours.

[RickS (Rick)]

I just received a $20 "we're sorry voucher" from Amazon. I suppose it's really only worth $18.18 after 1 July.

[luka]

Rick, if the voucher is from Amazon US it will be worth $0 after 1 July.

The ABC article says that Amazon US will close doors to the Australian customers because it is too much difficult to collect GST (a.k.a. the "Harvey Norman" tax).
We will have to purchase stuff from Amazon AU from the July.

[billdan (Bill)]

I think its worse than just Amazon, from what the ABC is saying, Australians will not be allowed to purchase from any overseas vendors unless they agree to collect GST for the Govt.

So Aliied Express, Alibaba, ZWO, QHY basically all Chinese vendors will be off limits to us. (Thanks Harvey Norman).

Quote
" Under new collection laws, online retailers will be forced to apply GST to goods bought on international sites and sent to Australia"

The Govt's position
"The Government doesn't apologise for ensuring multinationals pay a fair amount of tax here in Australia. That tax revenue is used to fund essential services,"

[Wavytone]

What amazes me is all the political squirming that has gone on to avoid calling it what it now is - a simple flat-rate import duty on everything. The mechanisms for collecting that were established long ago, but instead they've created a whole IT nightmare for overseas vendors.

Ah well, back to the 1980's.

And it effectively means overseas vendors will geoblock Australia - quite a few already do as a means of gouging local customers for 2X or 5X the price of the same article elsewhere - notably camera manufacturers, hifi and some other goods.

If for example they rely on your shipping address, and the vendor won't ship here - the answer is the same as for the companies - create an account with a US freight forwarder and have it shipped there, thence to here.

If it relies on the address of your credit card account - as some do - its a bit harder as you will need a card registered to a foreign address - eg USA. With a swift forwarder that could be arranged too, in time to validate the card

The result will be predictable - those that figure out whats going on will take the opportunity to gouge us at local prices.

[RickS (Rick)]

Originally Posted by luka

Rick, if the voucher is from Amazon US it will be worth $0 after 1 July.

Nah, it's for use at Amazon AU and doesn't specify but I presume it is AUD.

I'm annoyed about the whole thing too. If Harvey Norman can't buy & ship in bulk and remain competitive with one-off overseas transactions then they don't deserve to be in business, IMO.

[Wussell (Russell)]

Has Harvey Norman not got enough money!!!
It all boils down to one thing.....GREED.
They will not be happy until the majority of us are living in the gutter, and politicians dont care because they are rorting the system to feather their own nest at our expense. They are nothing more than criminals in suites.

Rant over

[Russj (Russ)]

Its a pity the galahs in Canberra dont go after the real tax evaders in this country, Apple, microsoft, google et al, who make enormous profits from us then repatriate the profits offshore to minimise tax, to hard it seems or perhaps a lack of enthusiasm by the galahs, especially when the little man has always been easier to screw over.

I've spent some time comparing Amazon.au prices with some of our more "enlightened" retailers, so far I hav'nt seen to many bargains.....

[JA]

Originally Posted by Russj

its a pity the galahs in Canberra dont go after the real tax evaders in this country, Apple, microsoft, google et al, who make enormous profits from us then repatriate the profits offshore to minimise tax.
But then the little man has always been easier to screw over.

That AND the big men (and their $$$$) have them (the "galahs") in their pockets

Best
JA

[FlashDrive (Poppy)]

Originally Posted by Wussell

Has Harvey Norman not got enough money!!!

Apparently not ...he wants to buy another race horse, to add to his collection

[PCH (Paul)]

Originally Posted by Wussell

Has Harvey Norman not got enough money!!!
It all boils down to one thing.....GREED.
They will not be happy until the majority of us are living in the gutter, and politicians dont care because they are rorting the system to feather their own nest at our expense. They are nothing more than criminals in suites.

Rant over

Couldn't have put it better myself. They make me sick, the lot of them

[FlashDrive (Poppy)]

I have another question please.

What it you are buying ' second hand items ' off say ebay or second hand items from OPT...or any o/seas outlet

In Australia I believe there is no ' Tax ' on S/H products....???

So I ask...will these s/h items ( from o/seas ) ' attract ' the GST...

Col...

[luka]

Second hand items? Probably they will attract 10x the GST to encourage buying new items. Have to keep the economy growing somehow.
<sarcasm off>

Harvey Norman and the likes finally got what they wanted but even with 10% GST on everything from overseas they will still be uncompetitive. If you can walk into their stores and they offer you 10% discount on your new laptop before you even ask for it, it tells you something about their profit margins.

I can see the government's position about the lost tax but forcing overseas retailers to collect GST is not the way to fix the problem. As Amazon example has shown it will just encourage isolation and us being ripped off even more. Yes, we will be able to use the Amazon AU but the prices (and the choice) there are not even close to the prices on the Amazon US.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Regardless of where taxes are collected Amazon are mongrels to penalize aussies and make up BS saying it is complicated to cater for aussie orders and "move" stock to the .com.au with limited availability. eBay didn't.

[tlgerdes (Trevor)]

Originally Posted by troypiggo

Wonder how this is going to affect online shoppers saving on GST in future.

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2018-0...tralia/9820224

Its already happened.

I bought from Amazonia on the 5th of May, arrived 2 days ago. I cant re-order the same item now, they say it cant be shipped to AU.

[lazjen (Chris)]

I foresee a rise in VPN usage, backed with sending to a local forwarding company...

[dreamstation (James)]

Originally Posted by RickS

If Harvey Norman can't buy & ship in bulk and remain competitive with one-off overseas transactions then they don't deserve to be in business, IMO.

Couldn't have said it better myself. It's not just Harvey Norman though. I buy a lot of stuff overseas such as books, video games, movies, etc primarily from the UK. It says something about local pricing when you can get a book for half the price of what the local places like Dymocks or even Booktopia are charging and even have it shipped all the way over for free.

I want to support local businesses as much as the next Aussie but my dollar can only go so far.

[Wavytone]

Originally Posted by lazjen

I foresee a rise in VPN usage, backed with sending to a local forwarding company...

IMHO Malcom Turnbull has just created a business opportunity.

Someone with half a brain could set up a company offshore to ship goods into Australia by buying goods at offshore prices ex-GST and shipping consolidated consignments here for say 2-3%, buyer saves 7-8% over local cost. A simple arrangement is that the good are purchased by this company and resold, as secondhand to the end consumer in Aus.

Now consider what the total cashflow of what Aussies buy overseas is for goods purchased overseas...

Even if you snaffled 10% of the trade, 2-3% margin on that is a hefty sum, and more than enough to make it happen.

Anyone want to get rich, in 12 months flat ?