@imastawkawrote:
@everard6920wrote:
I'll believe it when I see it.
I'm sure most people here rememeber the fuss regarding last year's proposed GST on imports under $1000. Haven't heard anything about it since.
Unless they've come up with some revolutionary, cost-effective way to collect it, then it won't happen. AP stated last year that it was not cost-effective for them to collect the 10% GST on imports, so one can assume that it isn't cost-effective to collect $5.00 for every import, either.
eBay even threatened to pull out of Australia over last year's proposal. I imagine this proposal would have similar implications for them, if the government is planning a vendor-collects-it model.
Legislation was passed in January for this tax.
https://www.ato.gov.au/General/New-legislation/In-detail/Indirect-taxes/GST/GST-on-low-value-importe...
Indeed, but they STILL haven't explained:
1. How they're going to determine if an overseas vendor sells more than $75,000 per annum to Australian customers, which determines whether or not they have to charge the tax. Seeing as these vendors are based overseas, good luck with that.
2. What they're going to do if an overseas vendor simply doesn't do it. Block the site? There's still email, social media, etc from which the vendor can sell from. They can also use a range of addresses to import with. They can be running a lucrative business and still manage to make it look like my cousin, Joe, has sent me some stuff, and I won't have to pay. In effect, they'd need to keep a running tally of everything Joe has sent me throughout the year, in order to counter this. And then they have to do that for everyone else, too.
3. How much trying to make overseas vendors do this is going to cost. As per the legislation, documentation has to be supplied within the customs documentation, detailing the tax. That means examining every. single. package that comes into this country.
This idea was a mess last year, and it's a mess this year. That's why it was pushed back a year.
