GST on online sales over $20

Why not just get ebay to collect it off the sale of anything sold here in Australia?

ie: you sell items in Australia, you pay Australian taxes - level playing field

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GST on online sales over $20

if you import and resell, then the GST you paid is written off against the GST you collect in the sale of your goods

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GST on online sales over $20

I am all for the GST be lowered anything that even slightly levels the playing field. Unfortunately I can see that it would become like the bad old days pre GST when we had Import Duties and the invoices would be lowered to reduce the duty. So the chinese seller in Hong Kong gives you the nod, and a wink and suddenly your $800 camera will arrive with a $200 invoice or is a gift??.


Junkie just because you weren't being charged by Royal Mail doesn't mean you shouldn't have been charged. The avoidance of VAT and import duties in England is illegal.

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GST on online sales over $20


@misterforgetfulsbooks wrote:

if you import and resell, then the GST you paid is written off against the GST you collect in the sale of your goods


Only if A) you can sell your goods after they start costing you 20-30% more, and B) you're registered to collect / pay GST. 

 

The threshold being lowered is not going to level the playing field, it will be just as uneven as it ever was, just in different places. 

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GST on online sales over $20

Well, I import all of my items so this will affect me - the only good thing is that all of my competitors are overseas.

 

So, they can buy it from me with the 10% mark-up for GST applied, or they can buy it overseas from a competitor and pay the 10% when they do that.

 

I'd be really interested to find out how they're going to collect this. There was a study awhile ago that showed that the cost of collection would exceed the revenue.

 

I feel like this could become very confusing if it isn't done properly. And I don't trust them to do it properly.

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GST on online sales over $20


@digital*ghost wrote:

@misterforgetfulsbooks wrote:

if you import and resell, then the GST you paid is written off against the GST you collect in the sale of your goods


Only if A) you can sell your goods after they start costing you 20-30% more, and B) you're registered to collect / pay GST. 

 

The threshold being lowered is not going to level the playing field, it will be just as uneven as it ever was, just in different places. 


How would they cost 20 - 30% more? Wouldn't they cost 10% more?

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GST on online sales over $20


@everard6920 wrote:

How would they cost 20 - 30% more? Wouldn't they cost 10% more?


It won't just be 10% added on, there'll be processing fees etc 

 

One of the main reasons the threshold is as high as it is, is because it was determined not cost effective to collect GST on goods under $1k. To make it cost effective, they will charge additional fees. As it stands, most people pay an extra 20-30% on imported goods over $1k after GST, import duties and any brokerage fees have been paid, so it stands to reason the same percentage is likely to apply if the threshold is lowered. It might be even higher in some cases if they whack a flat processing fee similar to the one in the UK (around $15.00 AUD I think). 

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GST on online sales over $20


@digital*ghost wrote:

@everard6920 wrote:

How would they cost 20 - 30% more? Wouldn't they cost 10% more?


It won't just be 10% added on, there'll be processing fees etc 

 

One of the main reasons the threshold is as high as it is, is because it was determined not cost effective to collect GST on goods under $1k. To make it cost effective, they will charge additional fees. As it stands, most people pay an extra 20-30% on imported goods over $1k after GST, import duties and any brokerage fees have been paid, so it stands to reason the same percentage is likely to apply if the threshold is lowered. It might be even higher in some cases if they whack a flat processing fee similar to the one in the UK (around $15.00 AUD I think). 


True. Knowing our government the fee will be something astronomical.

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GST on online sales over $20


@misterforgetfulsbooks wrote:

Why not just get ebay to collect it off the sale of anything sold here in Australia?

ie: you sell items in Australia, you pay Australian taxes - level playing field


Maybe I,m just reading your post differently to what you intended. Maybe you where referring only to O.S sales in Australia. If Not......

 

 What about the millions of Australians who use ebay a few times a year to sell their own personal items ? Should they be required to charge GST, register for an ABN and fill in the paper work four times a year when they sell an old family bunk bed or camera on ebay ???    Should they be expected to do the same if they sell through facebook, gumtree or the local market ??? If not why just on ebay?

 

The threshold for requirement for GST registration of a business is $75,000. This is deliberately designed to allow start ups to build a bit of scale, before having to go through the GST paperwork nightmare. Should a small ebay business turning over $15,000 worth of second hand books or clothes PA be required to register for GST when other similar small B & M stores turning over less than $75,000 PA dont have the same requirements ? How is this a "level playing field". ???

 

Larger ebay businesses turning over more than the threshold are already required to register for, and charge GST. The ATO has taken steps to data match sellers tax records with ebay sales records so is being pro-active in policing this issue. 

 

The problem with collecting GST on OS sales of less than $1000 is the cost of collection is more than the revenue collected, meaning taxpayers are paying government agencies to protect Australian businesses from overseas competition and the consumer is paying extra on top of this for the actual GST paid. It just seems to be a very expensive totally unproductive, nonsense system.

 

If introduced it will just be another example of governments extravagant  waste and inefficiency paid for by taxpayers. If society wants taxpayers to subsidise and pay protection money to support local retailers, ( and tarrifs have long ago been phased out for other industries, so what is so special about the retail industry ? ) there must be a more cost effective, efficient, financially productive system than collecting GST on all overseas sales over $20.

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GST on online sales over $20

So what your saying is its OK while I pay no GST on imported materials and have an unfair advantage but its wrong if you have to pay what other manufacturers pay now.  So having a 10% advantage by not paying GST on items sold (you said you are not registered) and a further 10% advantage by currently not paying on imported materials is not enough.

You buy your materials o/s now for $10 and sell for $22    Profit  $12

A GST registered businees that buys in more than a $1000 lot o/seas

Buys their material $10 unit cost plus 10% GST = $10 + $1 GST = $11
Sell the item for $22 which includes $2 GST.  Profit $22 - $11 - ($2 GST Collected - GST $1 Paid) = Profit  $10

 

You may well argue that they buy at a lower unit cost because they buy in bulk, but that has nothing to do with GST.

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GST on online sales over $20

Sorry you are wrong it is not proposed to collect GST on sales to Overseas customers at any sale price.  The change in GST is only relevant to items imported into Australia which are currenty GST exempt if less than $1000, ie items purchased from Overseas and imported into Australia, not those sold by Australians to Overseas customers.

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