GST on imported goods

[tetibird]

Probably this has been covered lots before, but searching threads got confused with old & new info. So some questions:

1. If I buy from the USA am I charged GST on the item OR the item plus postage price? 

2. The GST calculated on the item I'm looking at (via a number of sellers) doesnt appear to be 10% of either of the above & varies from seller to seller. Why?

3. Who & when is the GST paid? I'm guessing businesses do? But what about private sellers?

Is there anything else I need to know about this? I used to buy a lot of collectable & antique jewellery from the US, always under the $1000 mark & only had to worry about those who used Pitney Bowes & friends hiking up the mail cost.

Thanks

[lyndal1838]

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@tetibird wrote:

Probably this has been covered lots before, but searching threads got confused with old & new info. So some questions:

1. If I buy from the USA am I charged GST on the item OR the item plus postage price?

    Item plus postage.

2. The GST calculated on the item I'm looking at (via a number of sellers) doesnt appear to be 10% of either of the above & varies from seller to seller. Why?

Depends on the shipping service used.  If the GSP is used they charge a fee for collecting the GST and there is also GST payable on that fee.....they are all lumped together under the heading of Import Charges.

3. Who & when is the GST paid? I'm guessing businesses do? But what about private sellers?

The GST is payable when you pay for your item....it is itemised on the final invoice.  The buyer pays the GST on all overseas imports whether they buy from a business or a private seller.

Is there anything else I need to know about this? I used to buy a lot of collectable & antique jewellery from the US, always under the $1000 mark & only had to worry about those who used Pitney Bowes & friends hiking up the mail cost.

There is nothing else you need to know.....ALL imports are subject to GST now.

Thanks

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[tetibird]

Thanks Lyndal for that. 

Just on number 3 - is it Ebay who pays the GST? A private/ casual seller wouldnt have the capacity to do this?

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@tetibird wrote:

3. Who & when is the GST paid? I'm guessing businesses do? But what about private sellers?

Is there anything else I need to know about this?

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the GST is collected from the buyer by eBay unless you buy a GSP item. Either way you will see two payments if you use PayPal, one to the seller and the other to either eBay or Pitney Bowes.

The other thing you should know is that arrangements for items over $1,000 have not changed.

[tetibird]

Thank you.

[lyndal1838]

Just a slight correction slr......it is my understanding that the GST paid by the buyer now goes to the seller initially and then ebay takes it back from the seller to remit to the ATO.

It is an extra step in the process and one I am sure will have some sellers up in arms if they do not understand the process.

[b4l_31]

Our GREEDY government add the GST onto the TOTAL amount including the postage. This even applies to products that are used/second hand and have even had local VAT/GST fees previously paid.
Biggest scammers are the official ones.

[lyndal1838]

*sigh*

Another GST naysayer finds the boards.

[4channel]

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@tetibird wrote:

3. Who & when is the GST paid? I'm guessing businesses do? But what about private sellers?

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Yes indeed!

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@b4l_31 wrote:
Our GREEDY government add the GST onto the TOTAL amount including the postage. This even applies to products that are used/second hand and have even had local VAT/GST fees previously paid.
Biggest scammers are the official ones.

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Well, you'll get no argument from me about the wrongfulness of paying GST on a second hand item from a private seller. It's sad that we have to pay GST on items from an overseas seller who is selling unwanted or no longer needed / used items.

Annie in Florida decides to sell her cassette and 45 rpm record collection that she had as a teenager during the 1980s. Nolan Sisters, Donna Summer,  Bruce Springsteen etc..  She's a mum now and has no room to  Carolyn in Footsctray, Victoria decides to snap up a few and then gets hit with a nasty surprise. Anyway, most folk know about one of the nasties.

  So lets just look at the GST issue here. Here we have 2 buyers just normal everyday folk, one seling unwanted items and another buying them. The transaction is between them. It would be no different than if it were a local transaction where Carolyn drove from Footscray to Essondon and knoked on her door with $30, except for the fact that she wouldn't have to pay GST.

With Ebay as the arena for a sale and items purchased and posted via international post, it doesn't seem right for GST to be applied to a transaction between 2 everyday non-business folk. Does it?

Thanks b4l_31, your statement is boith valid and valued!

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[davewil1964]

Yay, the whole cheersquad has turned up, spouting the same wishful 'it's not fair' rhetoric.

It's certainly fairer than having people import items, sending money off-shore to benefit other economies and contributing absolutely nothing to Australia's economy.

I might have said this before, but not as many times as you've posted trying to validate your ONE point.