import charges

[family_gj_aj_dd]

Hello All,  Have noticed lately there are import charges on international purchases. Payable in the currency of the country you are buying from.  This is in addition to the Global shipping program charges.  

Australia does not have import charges for items under 1000$.  Have been having to pay these charges for items under

200$.  Thought it was the GST  under the guise of Import Charges.  But this works out far more than the 10% GST Australia now has on international purchases. 

Vouchers/ coupons are also not available for the length of time stated. Had one that was supposed to be available until the 8th of July.

It disappeared today, the 6th July.  

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@bennyblackwell wrote:

Blame Gerry Havey of Harvey Norman retailers and his Liberal Party mates - they accepted the donations year on year and then closed the door on competition through this heinous charge. I make sure I NEVER give them a single dollar now, even if I can't avoid import charges.

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not sure that I agree with blaming Gerry Harvey.  Sure, he did lobby for action on imports, but he wasn’t the only one.

I’m assuming by import charges you are referring to GST on low-cost imports.

None of us like to pay more in taxes or having new taxes imposed upon us, but I think of some of the benefits to Australia of the introduction of the GST on low-cost imports.  These include increased government revenues which will allow for more spending on infrastructure, more money available for distribution to the states, reduction in personal taxes, encouraging consumers to buy local, and more federal money for health and education.

If you don’t think these benefits are flowing through to Joe Public, then let the government know about it in May.  But the other mob are not going to remove that tax.

I also like to remind myself that the GST is a tax on consumption, meaning those that spend more on low-cost eBay imports pay more in GST than those that do not spend much.  If people have the funds to buy from overseas then why shouldn’t they pay GST just as those that buy the same/similar items do on local products?

Before anyone starts on about GST on the shipping, or GST on old/used items etc I say it is a matter of practicality.

If the postage/shipping wasn’t taxed then Aussies might ask overseas sellers to change the listing to make the item price lower and the postage higher.  Aussies love avoiding tax, so that US$150 item with US$25 postage would attract less GST if the seller changed it to a US$25 item with $150 postage.

As for as secondhand/used items, the same reasoning applies.  If an item was listed as ‘New’ then an Aussie might convince a seller to change the listing to ‘Used’ to avoid the tax.

Having every single eBay item assessed for GST due to exemptions is simply not feasible.  For starters, eBay would not cop being told to employ more staff to scrutinise every imported item.  Making the tax due at the border also is not feasible due to the sheer weight of numbers of items and the inability of scrutinising every item for tax purposes.

I guess what I am saying is that taxing every imported eBay item, including shipping, is just simpler.  Having eBay collect the tax is just simpler.  Some would think of this as being lazy, but if there were exemptions there would be non-compliance and or tax avoidance.

The other thing to consider is the introduction of the GST back in July 2000.  At that time there was very little online buying.  That is why the original GST legislation didn’t consider taxing low-cost imports.  If the GST was introduced in July 2018 you can be sure that it would have been an all-encompassing tax that includes imports as well as domestic purchases.  The way to think of this is how lucky we were to get 18 years of GST-free items from overseas.

I know my spending on low-cost imports has reduced since July 2018 to the point where the GST is neither here nor there for, but I accept that many others do not think that way.

[mnmgirloz]

I’d like to understand why we pay gst on the postage? Surely a tax on this is already paid to the government where the postage is paid?  So in the case of Great Britain we pay for the (item + postage + vat on postage)+10%? And if global postage service the postage is already excessive!  Ebay is becoming too difficult to trade overseas.  Will have to find another way to purchase. 10% on purchase price is enough!

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

did you read the post immediately before yours?  It was explained there, but I'll quote from it for you to read:

If the postage/shipping wasn’t taxed then Aussies might ask overseas sellers to change the listing to make the item price lower and the postage higher.  Aussies love avoiding tax, so that US$150 item with US$25 postage would attract less GST if the seller changed it to a US$25 item with $150 postage.

This might also also help you understand why postage is taxed:

Having every single eBay item assessed for GST due to exemptions is simply not feasible.  For starters, eBay would not cop being told to employ more staff to scrutinise every imported item.  Making the tax due at the border also is not feasible due to the sheer weight of numbers of items and the inability of scrutinising every item for tax purposes.

I guess what I am saying is that taxing every imported eBay item, including shipping, is just simpler.  Having eBay collect the tax is just simpler.  Some would think of this as being lazy, but if there were exemptions there would be non-compliance and or tax avoidance.

[digital*ghost]

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@mnmgirloz wrote:

I’d like to understand why we pay gst on the postage? Surely a tax on this is already paid to the government where the postage is paid?  

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It's probably best not to make this assumption.

Australia Post do not include GST in the cost of any international postage prices, be they stamps for letters, or parcel prices - Cocos (Keeling) Island, technically part of Australia, didn't implement the Australian GST, so even though you can send a 500g domestic parcel there, the price is lower because it doesn't include GST.

I send parcels to international destinations through DHL, and again none of the postage services include GST. I have to pay for pick-up, and that cost includes GST, though, the difference being that the pick-up is a service provided directly to me, an Australian resident.

I would be more inclined to assume other countries do the same thing - not include domestic taxes on international services (well, actually I would prefer not to assume, and have attempted to research it in the past, thought admittedly just whether or not domestic taxes are included in USPS prices for international postage, but results varied, I think my google skills are prettty sub-par, and I never got around to asking an American who would know ). 

Besides which, one government collecting tax on an item or service doesn't automatically mean no other government can - it's not like there's a "dibs" system and whoever gets in first gets the tax.

[countessalmirena]

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@mnmgirloz wrote:

I’d like to understand why we pay gst on the postage?

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The only answer that I have is that it's legislated so that we are required to pay GST on the postage component, if we buy low-value imported goods from a seller required to be registered for GST.  You are taxed on the item's full amount (including shipping and insurance). The amount that is taxable is the customs value of the item. As per Information for Consumers (on the ATO website):

❝When you purchase goods sourced from overseas, shipping and/or insurance costs form part of the price of the delivered goods on which GST is calculated.❞

That's the legislation, and we as buyers can get upset over it à la Greek tragedy, or simply shrug our shoulders and pay it, or buy directly from overseas sellers who aren't registered for GST and are happy to post directly to us, in which case we don't pay GST on postage (or on the item).

I would not purchase from a seller on eBay using the GSP unless I had no other option for an item I couldn't obtain from somewhere else and which I desperately needed. Yes, the GSP postage costs are often excessive. Don't buy from sellers who've opted in to the GSP if you aren't prepared to pay the full costs involved; there are almost always alternatives.

[shannonc60]

I don’t think it is right to charge a standard 10% GST on items that would not have a 10% GST on them in Australia - ie second hand goods. I think the fees are charged regardless of whether the item is listed as new or used. If the Australia government wants more money then they could reduce the middle class welfare they hand out.

[lyndal1838]

The GST is charged on all goods whether new or second hand if the seller is registered for GST.

The ATO considers ebay to be the seller for the purposes of GST collection, so all overseas goods are subject to the GST.

[countessalmirena]

@shannonc60,

As lyndal says, second-hand goods aren't exempt from GST just because they're second-hand.

❝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.❞

                    – Information for consumers (ATO website)

(Bolding is mine.)

For the record, I don't necessarily agree with the government's decision to treat eBay (as what the Australian Government dubs an EDP) as the merchant, and hence deem that GST is payable on all items imported into Australia if listed by overseas sellers on eBay's website. However, that's the way it is.

❝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.❞

However...

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).

* Remember that eBay is only responsible for GST collection in the case of low-value imported goods. eBay is not responsible for collecting GST in the case of local/domestic goods.