It makes clear that a 're-deliverer' (such as Pitney Bowes) is responsible for collecting the GST, not the original seller or site it was bought on. Re-delivers (forward services) don't have to register for the GST if they're under the $75K threshold, same as sellers and EDPs.
Using a re-deliverer
You are using a re-deliverer if you:
purchase goods and have them sent to a mailbox in another country to be re-shipped to you in Australia.
use the services of an overseas business that buys goods on your behalf and then helps you bring those goods to Australia.
The re-deliverer will charge GST on the goods and for their services in bringing the goods to you, if they are registered or required to be registered.
The business that makes the original sale should not charge GST, as they are not sending the goods to Australia. This means that you should not pay GST twice.
It also makes clear that GST is payable on the item cost plus the delivery fee (postage).
If you buy something as a gift you still pay GST, same as you would if you go to a physical store in Australia and buy a gift for someone.
It says that if a site thinks it's likely that GST will be payable, the website should display a GST-inclusive price. If they're not sure if it'll apply or not, they have to say that extra tax may apply. On this ebay page: https://www.ebay.com.au/help/buying/paying-items/paying-tax-ebay-purchases?id=4771 ebay states that they dodisplay this on listings. I checked and it's there - but it's hidden away down near the bottom on the payments tab where most people never look. Technically they've fulfilled their legal obligations butit's a bit of a joke!
This information about the "GST may apply" isn't on GSP listings, obviously because ebay isn't responsible for collecting the GST on the sale.
I couldn't find anything about not being able to charge for collecting the GST but it looks like Pitney Bowes are charging a fee for doing it. The forms they fill out for customs shouldn't be any different to before because I read on another page that nothing will have GST added to it when it comes through customs at the border, unless it's worth over $1K. All PB are doing that they weren't before is collecting the GST and sending it to the Australian govt.
I read a bit of other interesting information on other pages (from following the links) but can't remember it all now. I don't think it said anywhere that a seller (or re-deliverer) has to supply an itemised invoice. It only said the invoice will usually be GST-inclusive.
Section 59 and 60 show that GST should not be charged on the postage amounts.
Can anyone else confirm they have the same interpretation?
eBay live chat are absoloutey 0 help
Paragraph 59 is talking about determining the customs value, which is important because GST is only charged on low value goods.
For those who haven't clicked the link, paragraph 59 reads:
"59. For a typical consumer transaction where goods are sold in Australian dollars and where the price includes freight and insurance from the supplier to the address in Australia, the only usual adjustment to the price to obtain customs value will be to deduct any amount that was included in the price for freight and insurance from the place of export to the Australian address."
In other words, if an item is $50 with $20 postage, the customs value is $50, which makes it a low-value import and GST applies at point of sale (where applicable - not all international purchases off-eBay will have GST applied).
If the item is $950 with $100 postage, again, the customs value is $950 so even though the total is over $1000, it is still considered a low value import, and GST will apply at point of sale.
That paragraph doesn't say GST isn't applicable to postage, it is saying you need to deduct freight costs from the total to determine whether GST is applicable at point of sale, or at the border.
No need to wade through all that......postage is a Service......it is a Goods and Services Tax.....GST is payable on Item price plus postage whether it is a postage included price or a separate postage cost.
I dont think anyone really minds paying the 10% gst on overseas purchases do they. My concern is that overseas sellers will not want to be bothered and will not ship to Oz. Secondly sellers are likely to charge fees for gst collection. Afterall even under the old rules over $1000 I was charged $600 gst on a $3000 purchase by customs. Fees you see.
You have obviously not been reading the boards if you think no-one minds paying the GST on all overseas purchases.
There are a few members here who think it is the end of the world as we know it and they will never buy from overseas again.
As far as ebay goes, the sellers do not have to do anything....ebay collects and remits the GST and do not charge any fees.
The sellers who use the GSP have it collected by Pitney Bowes who already charge fees and also charge GST on those fees.
Members who use a freight forwarding service have the GST applied by the forwarder.
The $600 was not just GST. On items over $1000 have fees, duty and GST collected by Australian Customs....there is the actual duty, a Customs clearance fee and GST added. As a rule of thumb it was always said that these charges worked out at 25% to 40% of the value of the item.
@bilmar72 wrote: I dont think anyone really minds paying the 10% gst on overseas purchases do they. My concern is that overseas sellers will not want to be bothered and will not ship to Oz. Secondly sellers are likely to charge fees for gst collection. Afterall even under the old rules over $1000 I was charged $600 gst on a $3000 purchase by customs. Fees you see.
Majority of overseas sellers wouldn't know that eBay is charging buyers the GST, because it's not taken from them. It's added to the buyers invoice. As it's not putting the seller out, there is no reason they would stop selling overseas.
Re your scenario about overseas sellers charging a fee for GST collection, not going to happen (in the forseeable future). As I mentioned above, the seller isn't collecting the GST. EBay does it. If a US seller sells an item for $100, they will get their $100. When the buyer wants to pay, GST gets applied. The sellers don't see it and play no part in collecting it.
In view of that, you can stop being so paranoid concerned.
Some members have posted with what seems perhaps to be a confusion about who pays GST. Possibly there's confusion about this because the information about the updated application of GST to low value imported goods is listed on the ATO website under International tax for business, which may imply to some that the low value imported goods GST only applies to businesses importing goods into Australia.
Just to clarify, all of the following conditions of a taxable sale apply:
❝You are only required to charge GST on a sale of low value imported goods if it is a taxable sale.
[...]
From 1 July 2018, a sale is connected with Australia if the:
This makes it clear that when a consumer (such as a buyer on eBay) buys low-value goods from an overseas seller selling on an online marketplace (called an "electronic distribution platform" by the updated legislation), and has the goods brought into Australia to be sent to their address, the consumer will be charged 10% GST.
But what about second-hand goods?
Some people believe that when one buys second-hand goods, no GST applies; they consider this to be true for sales within Australia, and by extension think it should apply to purchasing second-hand goods from overseas sellers.
However, purchasing second-hand goods in Australia is not exempt from GST, if the seller is registered for GST – just as when buying a new item or paying for a service.
The ATO specify that GST on low value imported goods that are second-hand is payable – if the merchant/seller has an annual turnover of A$75,000 or more to Australian buyers, OR if the merchant/seller is selling on an EDP such as eBay (which is required to be registered for GST), OR if the merchant/seller sends the goods to an address outside Australia for re-delivery to Australia (since presumably the re-deliverer would reach the A$75,000 threshold with laughable ease).
❝GST and second-hand goods
Second-hand goods purchased from overseas may be subject to GST if they are low value imported goods.
When second-hand goods are sold by GST registered suppliers GST will generally apply, just like when second-hand goods are purchased from GST registered businesses in Australia. Sales of low value imported goods, either new or second-hand, can be made by:
› a merchant who sells goods
› an EDP (such as an online marketplace)
› a re-deliverer.
Sales of low value imported second-hand goods by a non-resident individual via an online marketplace are deemed to have been made by the EDP operator. Therefore, the price of the second-hand good will include GST as the EDP operator is registered.❞
Buyers can purchase second-hand items from private non-GST-registered sellers, without being required to pay GST, in the following circumstances:
The seller is a private seller in Australia and sells to you (the buyer) in the capacity of a private seller (not a business) in a consumer-to-consumer transaction, whether on eBay*, on Facebook, through a newspaper ad, at a swap-meet, through a conversation in a collector's forum, after you both bump into each other in a car park where you and the seller serendipitously discover he's got an item to sell and it's exactly the item you've been looking for, in the course of a get-together, etc., or
The seller is a business (e.g., a sole trader with an annual turnover below the $75,000 threshold) in Australia, not registered for GST, and enters into a commercial transaction with you (the buyer) in providing you with second-hand goods (or even new goods or services), or
The seller is a private seller overseas, whose annual turnover to Australian buyers is less than A$75,000 (hence not registered for GST) and sells to you (the buyer) through direct sales (on their own website, through a mail-order catalogue, or any method other than an EDP/online marketplace).
* Note that eBay is responsible for collecting GST only for low value imported goods, not low value or high value domestic goods. The only time that buyers will be paying GST on second-hand goods listed on eBay by Australian sellers is when the seller is a business; their listed prices will be GST-inclusive, in the same way that all Australian businesses selling new items on eBay will have GST-inclusive prices. ❝Items sold from Australia If the item's located in Australia, the listing price is GST-inclusive, where applicable. Sellers may not add GST to the final sale price after an item has sold.❞ – Paying tax on eBay purchases (eBay Help page)
I plan to buy some goods from a USA manufacturer again.
The last time was pre JULY 2018.
I got them to send to a friend in the USA and he sends them on to me.
Value less than $1000
Does anyone know how GST works here ?
My understanding is that no GST is payable on sub $1000 but at
the same time ebay purchases attract GST at the time of payment.
My head is starting to hurt.
To answer your question, GST has been payable on low value imported goods (less than $1000) since July of last year.
However, your US manufacturer may not be registered for GST/required to be registered for GST. If the manufacturer has an annual turnover to Australian buyers that's less than A$75,000, then he's not required to be registered for GST, and you can in that case buy from the manufacturer/seller without GST being added on to the price.
If you were to have the order sent to a freight forwarding company (such as a US parcel address to forward the goods to you from them to your Australian address), then it would become irrelevant whether or not the seller/manufacturer himself reaches that annual turnover. The relevant legislation then classes the re-deliverer (the freight forwarder) the entity responsible for collecting GST (where the re-deliverer has a turnover reaching that threshold, and certainly no freight forwarding company is going to have any trouble at all in more than surpassing that annual threshold to Australian buyers who have items forwarded from a US address!).
In that case, the re-deliverer collects the GST on the goods from you, plus GST on its shipping costs and insurance and fuel surcharge and any other charge involved. That total GST is forwarded from the re-deliverer to the ATO.
However, if your manufacturer (assuming he doesn't reach the $75,000 threshold) sends the low-value imported goods directly to your Australian address, bypassing any re-deliverer, then you will not be required to pay GST.
If your manufacturer isn't required to collect GST from you, and you organise having the goods sent to a friend in the USA who then sees to it that the goods go to you, it would absolutely be your responsibility to be 100% sure that GST is not required to be paid. Your personal arrangement with a friend is something I don't want to get into. I don't believe it's tax evasion but I am speaking personally, not as an ATO rep.
Whatever you do, be scrupulously honest when it comes to checking with the manufacturer. You don't want to get yourself, your friend and the manufacturer into hot water by entering into any sort of arrangement that smells even slightly of fermented red herring.
