GST on all imports July 2018

[rapadaan]

Yes kicks in  this July  already talking an extra added  $5 security fee !

[fd1_civic]

Are you sure that prices must be GST inclusive? I have just bought an item from the UK and was charged 10% GST at checkout. In other words the advertised price was not inclusive of GST.

[lyndal1838]

Oh for heavens sake.....of course the GST is not going to be on items listed in the UK.   It is an Australian tax so it is only going to be on items listed on the Australian site.....and only if the sellers are registered for GST.

This is why we now have GST added to low value overseas imports at point of sale.....as in ebay now adds it when you pay for your overseas item.

[minusminusminus]

Food is insane prices in Au. Just got back from Europe. Food at least HALF the price, if not more than here. And it's a lot prettier too!

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

---

@minusminusminus wrote:

Food is insane prices in Au. Just got back from Europe. Food at least HALF the price, if not more than here. And it's a lot prettier too!

---

thanks for letting us know as I now know why a certain member sometimes buys her food items from the UK.  Admittedly, it is pet food, but you have solved something that has kept me awake at night . . . . . . for months now . . . . . . the pet food/treats might be prettier (whatever that would mean  ) than those available locally!

[callum.irvine]

I'm in New Zealand. I don't sell a lot fo stuff, maybe 2 items a week. Have had 2 buyers so far pull out of the deal because "We now have to pay GST and it made your item too expensive sorry" My question is; Is this not made clear when you are bidding or buying? At what stage is the buyer made aware of the GST? Thanks.

[lyndal1838]

Unless the buyers are living in a cave or under a bridge there is no reason for them not to know about the GST.  It has been on TV, radio, in the newspapers.

The first they actually see of the amount being added is when they get the invoice from ebay.   The seller does not even see the GST amount as it is added by ebay and the amount goes into an ebay owned paypal account and from there to the ATO.

[brerrabbit585]

It's buried in the info on the postage tab that GST may be payable, which a lot of people never look at. It only started this month so it'll take a while before everyone is aware of it, but things will settle down eventually.  I don't read newspapers or listen to the radio, and it hasn't been on the news that I watch on TV so if I didn't sell on ebay I would probably be unaware of it.

I think auctions will be more of a problem than BIN because people higher than they otherwise would have. A lot of us have been forced into immediate payment so people can't buy without paying, which means they'll see the GST before they've actually bought it.

[2486buffyslay]

What if I'm buying an item from an overseas eBay seller that is 'NOT' subject to the 10% GST as I have a copy of the 'Australian Customs Tariffs Schedule' to prove this! The item I'm buying comes under Tariff Clasification 4911-91 Stat Code 28 Which states the item is only subject to a 5% (NOT 10%) GST. So if the item I'm buying only attracts a 5% GST how then can eBay be charging a 10% GST on it? Are not eBay therefore in direct violation of 'Australian Customs' tariff regulations?

Further the item I'm buying is less than AU$ 1,000 and therefore under Australian Customs Regulations is NOT subject to GST in the first place! Therefore it makes no difference what the tariff classification is since it won't apply! So really the questions is how can eBay be charging a 10% GST on the item (to be imported) that under Australian Customs assessment will NOT be subject to GST as the item's value is 'UNDER' AU$ 1,000!

I can understand if the item is never imported, but that's not the case here! Really as I see it, for items under AU$ 1,000 eBay appears to be in direct violation of Australian Customs regulations! The ONLY situation where eBay should be applying any GST (not necessarily 10% as it would depend on the tariff the item comes under) is if the item is AU$ 1,000 or more in value! But then this is the job of Australian Customs 'NOT' eBay to determine! eBay are 'NOT' 'The Australian Tax Office' and therefore do 'NOT' have 'ANY' regulatory authority to impose 'ANY' tax! 'PERIOD'!

Next how would I (or eBay) know if an overseas seller has a turnover of AU$75,000 or more in a 12 month period i.e. is registered for GST? (though 'WHY' would an overseas seller register for GST since they're not even subject to Australian tax law!) If I ask a seller "How much do you earn in a year" you can bet the response will be "F-OFF - NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" So if I don't know how would eBay know? I mean suppose all the sellers I deal with actually earn under this! Also how do I obtain a copy of this ATO list of 3000 eBay sellers that the ATO supposedly assessed to see if they would likely meet the AU$75,000 threshold? I can bet you the sellers I deal with aren't even on this list!

Also would that figure of AU$75,000 not be extremely unfair! for example if the exchange rate were only 0.5 (for buying British pounds) this means a seller would only have to earn 35,000 GBP rather than 75,000 GBP making this extremely unfair on the buyer if the exchange rate is always less than 1.0! In fact I've effectively already paid the GST through the exchange rate since the exchange rate is effectively already the cost of importing the item i.e. an exchange rate of 0.5 means I've already effectively paid a 50% GST on the item!

Finally what if the item I'm buying from an overseas seller isn't available in Australia - which it is 'NOT'! How then am I depriving an Australian seller of income if there are 'NO' Australian sellers of the item? Therefore there can be 'NO' justification for charging me GST on the item for the reason of depriving an Australian seller!
Finally I'm buying the item 'NOT' from eBay (eBay are 'NOT' a seller!), but from an overseas seller (nor are sellers 'agents' of eBay and eBay is mearly the 'location' they operate from like a physical marketplace). Indeed eBay 'THEMSELVES' have clearly backed this "IRREFUTABLE "FACT" up:

“eBay is "NOT" a seller!. eBay is "ONLY" a third-party online marketplace that simply connects buyers and sellers”.

Overseas sellers are therefore NOT subject to Australian tax law! Therefore most of what I've said above is completly irrelevant! Really the only relevant question is:

Is the AU$ value of the item over $1,000 ? If no then 'NO' GST - 'PERIOD'!

To summerise, What happens if I buy an item from an overseas seller that is to be "imported" and that item:

a) Attracts less than 10% GST under the 'Australian Customs Tariff Schedule'
b) Is worth less than AU$ 1,000 and therefore not subject to GST under 'Australian Customs' assessment - which negates the above
c) The seller earns less than AU$ 75,000 per year or is not registered for GST
d) The item is not available in Australia i.e. there is 'NO' Australian seller of the item!
e) The item is 'NOT' being bought from eBay, but from an overseas seller - as stated by eBay themselves!

[digital*ghost]

The tariff schedule is likely referring to import duties, not GST, since AFAIK GST is 10% wherever applicable. GST became applicable on all imports, regardless of value, from qualifying sellers, on July 1st, 2018. 

eBay (and other sites like it) are considered the vendor, regardless of whether or not an individual, or the general public, would describe them as such, so an international seller's turnover is irrelevant if they are selling here - if they have their own websites, however, they may not have to charge the customer GST. 

Can Australia force international businesses to comply with their tax laws? Debateable, but they can certainly put measures in place to prevent businesses from trading here if they don't. 

As for this bit...

"Also would that figure of AU$75,000 not be extremely unfair! for example if the exchange rate were only 0.5 (for buying British pounds) this means a seller would only have to earn 35,000 GBP rather than 75,000 GBP making this extremely unfair on the buyer if the exchange rate is always less than 1.0! In fact I've effectively already paid the GST through the exchange rate since the exchange rate is effectively already the cost of importing the item i.e. an exchange rate of 0.5 means I've already effectively paid a 50% GST on the item!"

Sorry, just no. I don't mean to be rude, but that makes no sense at all. GST is revenue paid to the Australian government, they don't get anything when you spend money in the UK just because the Australian dollar is worth less than the British pound- you're not being taxed because there's a discrepancy, you're just trading something of lower value for something of higher value, so you have to trade more of the lower value thing to get the higher value thing.