GST on online sales over $20

[misterforgetfulsbooks]

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

[digital*ghost]

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@joethenuts wrote:

what is wrong with some of you.

you are complaining its going to effect your business ,if you were buying from overseas now and spending over $1000  you would of already paying the gst ,now if you spend less you will have to pay gst , but so will a gst be added to overseas sellers ,thats what this is all about -overseas goods] so if your price will go up so will the chinese prices for them to sell.  

small shops large shops all businesses pay gst for goods , now custermers who want to buy from overseas will have to.

whats your problem.mmmm

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It's not quite as simple as that for some sellers.

If the $20 threshold is introduced (I seriously doubt the threshold will be $0), any seller who currently keeps their imports under $1000 and sells items that retail below $20, will have their stock costs increase - a cost that is too high to absorb on low value items - and the GST won't apply to the same items from overseas, therefore imports under that value will be potentially even more attractive. If the seller is registered for GST, they would be able to claim it back and are already collecting it, so their pricing probably wouldn't be affected too much. If they're not registered for GST, the import charges (while a deductable expense) are just that, an added expense, and pricing will be affected. 

These would all be considered 'small' or 'micro' businesses, which - regardless of where they source their stock - contribute to local economy in other ways, by being partly, or wholly, financially independent, so if they take a hit, the after-affect of the proposal, if introduced, is not going to be all positive for everyone. 

And before anyone accuses me of "complaining", I'm not. I have concerns about how this would affect me and what I can do to accomodate it so that I don't have to price myself out of my market, but that is not the same thing as complaining. I buy from suppliers all over the world because I have to in order to be a supplier myself, just like any other Australian supplier would have to with the products I sell, so it may as well be me, for as long as I can make it work, anyway. (I have two Australian suppliers vs about a dozen international, they are the only two Australia-wide who manufacture and/or distribute products I need, and I buy from them even though I can actually get the same supplies cheaper OS). And I don't just send money out of Aus, either, I bring it in from all over the world, too, as would many other businesses in the same kind of position I'm in. 

[lurehouse]

We don't make enough money to apply for the GST hence our problem, are you saying that if we were to apply for the GST we could claim back the 10% plus the collection costs on our tax return ?

[lyndal1838]

If you do not HAVE to register for the GST the run as far as you can.....it is a lot of extra work and expense as you will have to pay the GST on all your sales, not just the sales over the $75,000 cutoff.

You can already claim the costs of buying your stock on your tax return.....the GST is a completely different ballgame.

[everard6920]

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@gec2002 wrote:

Everard6290 stated  "I question the ethicality of it."

How is it ethical that someone buying from a local small business buys an item for $11 which includes $1 GST and supports a local Australian small business, and provides taxes for the States, however if they buy it from some overseas seller its cheaper only $10 because there is no GST and does nothing to support Australia.  Now you can claim they probably bought it in a less than $1000 lot so didn't pay GST either, but a $1000 of stock is a little order for even a small business, and if they are buying in lots of $999 they too are working the system.  Sure this will help big business, but it will help a lot of small businesses become more competitive with the overseas sellers.

" I purchase an item from Japan (at retail), then I pay Japanese sales tax."

Sorry but Japanese Consumption Tax (their GST) is exempt if sales of goods are treated as an export transaction.  (5003 Consumption Tax Exemption on Exports) similiar to Australia.  Any tax paid can be claimed back.

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No, I'm sorry, but I think that this is incorrect. I believe that you have to be a resident of Japan (for tax purposes) to claim it back (hence "export").  Anyone importing items from Australia can't claim it back, at least not without help from the Japanese retailer because documentation is needed, and the documentation needs to be lodged, in Japan, in Japanese. That isn't possible for most Australians, especially when it's a small transaction.

So my original post stands . . . you're paying tax twice.

Also, it's not as simple as $11 in Australia including GST, but $10 overseas. The difference is usually much greater than that (which is why people buy overseas). If the difference was minimal (as per your example) I think most people would opt to buy domestically.

[everard6920]

Let me just add that it's not that I don't sympathise with Australian businesses. Their costs are high because wages are high, and believe me, I appreciate my high wages (hands off my penalty rates, Tony!) .

I just think that there needs to be a better solution (perhaps some sort of exemption for small businesses importing stock).

[lyndal1838]

There is an exemption for small businesses.....it is called the GST Threshhold.   If you are turning over less than $75000 a year you do not have to register for GST or pay it to the government.

[everard6920]

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@lyndal1838 wrote:

There is an exemption for small businesses.....it is called the GST Threshhold.   If you are turning over less than $75000 a year you do not have to register for GST or pay it to the government.

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Understood, but if you're not registered for GST and you import stock in a shipment of under $1000, you'll be paying GST on it if this proposal is implemented, yes?

It's been a very long day so maybe I am misunderstanding something.

[lyndal1838]

At the moment you do not pay import taxes on items under $1000.

It remains to be seen what the threshhold will be if/when new laws are passed.

The problem is that it will not be just 10%.

Currently when import taxes are payable it works out at between 20 and 30% of the value of the item.

[everard6920]

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@lyndal1838 wrote:

At the moment you do not pay import taxes on items under $1000.

It remains to be seen what the threshhold will be if/when new laws are passed.

The problem is that it will not be just 10%.

Currently when import taxes are payable it works out at between 20 and 30% of the value of the item.

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Yes, I understand. I'm saying, perhaps they should look at an exemption for businesses importing stock under $1000. If your "buying power" is only that much then clearly you're a micro business/just starting out.

But as I said, I'm pretty tired, and I admittedly haven't thought through all the implications of doing that. I'll probably read this tomorrow and face palm!

[englishrosegardens]

On the news the other night they were talking about doing it the way Europe does it - get the overseas sellers to collect it when they make the sale and remit it to the Australian govt.  That would do away with the extra admin fees.  It'd also mean that a lot of sellers would no longer agree to sell here.