Will GST be charged on items bought from overseas and shipped to an Australian address?

[melkin2209]

I buy second hand collectables from small sellers located in the US and Europe. If I have them shipped to me in Australia will GST somehow be charged from July 1? What if shipping is to a US address?

[oohhau]

Well then why is eBay charging more than 10%, looking at item for £225 eBay import charge is £32

[imastawka]

If that's coming via the GSP, then it's Pitney Bowes charging you a fee for collecting the GST.  Not ebay.

[junkjowils]

My experience is different. I bought a second hand item for 28 eng pounds + 7 pounds postage  = 35pounds

GST was 3.50 pounds that feels like GST on the postage to me  jo

[padi*0409]

...................sigh.............It's a goods and services tax.................postage is a service...........................

[kalabjim]

This is from ATO site 16-Aug-2018

Do you import goods worth A$1,000 or less? | Australian Taxation Office

https://www.ato.gov.au/Newsroom/smallbusiness/GST-and-excise/Do-you-import-goods-worth-A$1,000-or-le...

12 June 2018

From 1 July 2018 overseas businesses that meet the GST registration threshold of A$75,000 will need to charge GST on goods that are:

less than A$1,000 (low value)
imported into Australia
not GST-free (such as most basic food, alcohol, tobacco, or tobacco products).

How will this affect you?

You will be charged GST on low value goods that you import if you are:

not registered for GST, or
are GST registered but importing goods for personal use.

You should not be charged GST if you:

are registered for GST
import the low value goods for business use in Australia, and
provide your ABN to the supplier and a statement that you are registered for GST.

If you're charged GST incorrectly you should contact the supplier to let them know that you're registered for GST, and request a refund.

Note that not all receipts that have GST applied will be tax invoices.
They will need to contain an ABN to be considered a tax invoice.
Overseas suppliers may be registered in the simplified GST system and have an ARN instead of an ABN.

[maranock]

You are misunderstanding who charges the GST from small overseas selelrs. There are many Threads on this. Ebay is the 'seller' in this case (like all similar platforms) and collects the GST to remit to the tax office. It is not the individual overseas sellers - that would have been far too hard for the government to impliment so they went with the platforms instead.

Everything has been through lawyers and the tax office and is all legit. It is not an incorrect application so you can't request a refund.

[daysontheroad]

In Australia the government that brought in GST promised that there would be no GST charged on second hand goods. Why is eBay now collecting GST on used and secondhand items purchased from overseas?

GST was introduced in Australia to replace Sales Tax on new goods. Tax was already collected on those items when they were new.

The collecting of GST on used and secondhand goods is a wrought to unjustly charge money to the consumer and should never be allowed. It's like charging tax on eggshells after the egg has been broken open and the egg has been eaten. Used goods are often defective and of little use, so why are we now being taxed and penalised for buying other people's rubbish? There should be no GST charged because most of the used goods sold on eBay do not contain precious metals that include gold, silver, or platinum. I'm sick of being ripped off when buying used rubbish off eBay. Where is this money going?

[daysontheroad]

And former Treasurer of Australia Peter Costello of the John Howard Liberal government promised when he introduced GST that used goods would not qualify for GST. Why is Malcolm Turnbull Liberal government decided to instruct eBay to collect GST on used items purchased from overseas? All this fiasco commenced a few years ago by Gerry Harvey the owner of Harvey Norman stores who was endlessly complaining that people were getting a better deal from buying goods online instead of buying from his stores. Charging GST on used goods from overseas in criminal because Australia has no legal right to charge and services taxes for anything done outside of its jurisdiction by non Australian citizens. What happened to the promises made by the Howard Liberal government that used goods would never be taxed with a GST? Is eBay collecting this tax and keeping the proceeds?

[daysontheroad]

There is only one answer to this problem of charging GST in Australia on secondhand goods from overseas. The answer is to vote out the Liberal Federal Government at the next election for failing to keep the promise they made when Treasurer Peter Costello introduced GST in Australia and stated that there would be NO GST on used goods. These liars need to be shown for what they are. You don't go to a garage sale and pay GST on used goods, so why should it be paid on used goods sold on eBay if it happens to come from overseas? There is no GST charged by EBay when similar used goods are sold to Australian buyers from Australian sellers, so why should there is a GST if those items cone from overseas? This whole thing makes no sense at all, except that buyers are being ripped off by an unlawful tax.

[daysontheroad]

And maranock should stop defending the actions of eBay and the corrupt Australian government on the collection of this unlawful and unjust GST or tax on used goods.