Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 22

Thread: GST on Overseas Purchases.....

  1. #1
    Premium Member
    ol' boy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    17,662
    Thanks
    8,131
    Thanked 10,460 Times in 5,194 Posts
    Rep Power
    4471
    Reputation
    184272

    Default GST on Overseas Purchases.....

    I obviously missed when they lowered the price threshold upon when GST becomes applicable on overseas purchases
    Especially when conducted through eBay

    I bought something for $3.89 AUD yesterday on eBay, product coming from China.
    Then i looked at my eBay History and find this



    This had me confused for a bit, i thought the Seller had changed the price
    Then i checked my PayPal, and it seems i've only paid the original price the product was advertised for



    Am i missing something here?
    The limit is still $1000 AUD before GST is applicable isn't it?
    Last edited by ol' boy; 23-06-19 at 02:54 PM.
    If u want to go on an expedition get a Land Rover, if u want to come home from an expedition get a Landcruiser!



Look Here ->
  • #2
    Premium Member
    hoe's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Age
    60
    Posts
    6,367
    Thanks
    266
    Thanked 4,596 Times in 1,948 Posts
    Rep Power
    1820
    Reputation
    70528

    Default

    No, gst is now payable on everything.

    Even on countries we supposedly have a free trade agreement with....

    I just bought a 4k diagnostic computer for my trucks, what a joke...

    Held at customs, Australia post send a letter, took 10 days to arrive.

    Get online and fill out form that requires number on aus post letter.

    Wait a further 10 days for an email with payment details.

    Paid immediately, not cleared for 2 more days....

    Now waiting for tracking to update and find out if it's in Melbourne or being held in Kalgoorlie

    Sent from my VOG-L09 using Tapatalk

  • The Following 8 Users Say Thank You to hoe For This Useful Post:

    DB44 (25-06-19),eaglem (25-06-19),Keith (25-06-19),lsemmens (24-06-19),ol' boy (23-06-19),OSIRUS (25-06-19),Tiny (23-06-19),VroomVroom (24-06-19)

  • #3
    Senior Member
    fandtm666's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    5,502
    Thanks
    244
    Thanked 990 Times in 465 Posts
    Rep Power
    1189
    Reputation
    40447

    Default

    yep on everything , with ebay i have found i get 2 notices one for the purchase and one for the gst

  • The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to fandtm666 For This Useful Post:

    eaglem (25-06-19),ol' boy (23-06-19),OSIRUS (25-06-19)

  • #4
    Premium Member
    ol' boy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    17,662
    Thanks
    8,131
    Thanked 10,460 Times in 5,194 Posts
    Rep Power
    4471
    Reputation
    184272

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by fandtm666 View Post
    yep on everything , with ebay i have found i get 2 notices one for the purchase and one for the gst
    So are we meant to pay the GST in a separate lodgement?

    Is this webpage still current information???

    If u want to go on an expedition get a Land Rover, if u want to come home from an expedition get a Landcruiser!

  • #5
    Premium Member
    ol' boy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    17,662
    Thanks
    8,131
    Thanked 10,460 Times in 5,194 Posts
    Rep Power
    4471
    Reputation
    184272

    Default

    What happens with Ali Express then?

    Ok, i just found this in my emails



    It is an email from eBay
    Yet my PayPal account still only shows $3.89 has been debited

    EDIT: Ok, thanks fandt, i found the separate payment
    It was further down the PayPal email

    What rouges
    As vroom vroom said the other day, thank Gerry Harvey you dog!


    So, that was using eBay

    What happens when you use Ali Express and use your debit card/credit card?
    Last edited by ol' boy; 23-06-19 at 04:12 PM.
    If u want to go on an expedition get a Land Rover, if u want to come home from an expedition get a Landcruiser!

  • The Following User Says Thank You to ol' boy For This Useful Post:

    VroomVroom (24-06-19)

  • #6
    Senior Member
    trash's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Tamworth
    Posts
    4,088
    Thanks
    148
    Thanked 3,229 Times in 1,451 Posts
    Rep Power
    1287
    Reputation
    47674

    Default

    Interesting Hoe,
    Because I've had many items come through with no GST and no issues.
    GST is only charged on foreign transactions that have a shop front in Australia so to speak.
    How they actually enforce it is a bit of a mystery because there isn't much stopping off shore sellers from just telling the ATO to fvck off.

    So purchases via ebay, ali, amazon etc are all automatically charged GST. I can only assume it is the agent company paying that tax.
    But I have gone off the reservation and dealt with sellers directly. Those transactions have no GST, none is charged, none is paid and customs doesn't chase it.
    Also dealing with small off shore companies for minor purchases doesn't have any GST invovled. I bought some consumables direct from a website of a small company and they landed here no trouble at all.
    It's just too much effort to chase one off small purchases. If they did, the mob would be DOS attacking customs with 10 cent purchases from China.

    What pisses me off most is not the tax, but rather our lazy arse comrades in what is left of Australian trade unions.
    If GST can be applied to off shore transactions with shop fronts in Australia, then foreign workers who work shop fronts in Australia should laso be subject to Australian industrial relations law. They should be paid minimum wage, with award conditions for their telemarketing or help desk pay grades. Holiday and sick leave and O&HS conditions insurance and superannuation. I'll fvcking level that playing field! It's fvcking racist policy to pay somebody less because they are brown and where they live.

    Australian Union motto: FAIR DAY'S PAY, FOR A FAIR DAY'S WORK.

    Now lets cut the bullshit. The ONLY reason companies offshore teleworkers is because they are cheaper. Not because they offer a better service.
    If companies are now forced to choose to pay an Indian $20/hr for the same job an Australian is paid $20/hr. That playing field is now so level you could be forgiven for thinking the world was truly flat.

    So which are they going to employ? The $20 Gupta or the $20 Bonza?
    They are going to hire the Bonza why? Because they get better service for the $20. The Gupta is a sub standard service which is paid for with a sub standard wage.

    And the ALP wonders why they can't win a federal election.
    Yes I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial.

  • The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to trash For This Useful Post:

    eaglem (25-06-19),Keith (26-06-19),Tiny (23-06-19)

  • #7
    Senior Member
    Uncle Fester's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Commonly found in a pantry or the bottom of a fridge, searching for grains, fermented or distilled
    Posts
    6,405
    Thanks
    2,289
    Thanked 4,414 Times in 2,517 Posts
    Rep Power
    2046
    Reputation
    81778

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by oceanboy View Post
    I obviously missed when they lowered the price threshold upon when GST becomes applicable on overseas purchases
    Especially when conducted through eBay
    You sure did.
    It happened June last year at the same time when Amazon decided to restrict Australian customers, not sure if Amazon back flipped though.
    There was a longer thread you missed about this which side tracked to the GST and I covered a few thing there.


    What Hoe experienced is not relevant here as his items are over $1000, don't think he bothers buying anything for less

    Your items under $1000 are not held at customs, customs has nothing to do with it, it is the ATO. Pretty sure I supplied the ATO links in that thread somewhere.

    Small overseas companies are not affected as long as their yearly turnover of items sent to Australia is below the threshold 75k, so you would not pay GST.
    However they would have to prove their turnover to Australian customers if the ATO finds out about them.

    The big guys automatically bill you 10% extra that is paid separately. You will see that on your Bank Account. I assume this money is automatically forwarded directly to the ATO so Ebay/Ali/AmazonUS(if they sell directly again) have nothing to do with it anymore.

    ATO claims that they are all over the Internet searching for vendors and redirect services who have not registered for Australian GST.

    Many Chinese vendors on Ebay seem to have agents here in Australia so they can sell without the obvious looking GST extra charge although they still have to pay it but they could avoid it by creating a new 'seller' before they reach 75k turnover.
    It
    is just a trick to get the customers to buy from them because the buyer thinks they get the items locally quicker and pay a bit extra but the items are still in China. 4-5 weeks later you figure it out, that it would have been cheaper to order from China and pay the GST.
    Last edited by Uncle Fester; 23-06-19 at 10:48 PM.
    Update: A deletion of features that work well and ain't broke but are deemed outdated in order to add things that are up to date and broken.
    Compatibility: A word soon to be deleted from our dictionaries as it is outdated.
    Humans: Entities that are not only outdated but broken... AI-self-learning-update-error...terminate...terminate...

  • The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Uncle Fester For This Useful Post:

    ol' boy (23-06-19),Tiny (24-06-19)

  • #8
    Premium Member
    Al Bundy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Tazzie
    Posts
    4,479
    Thanks
    2,005
    Thanked 5,193 Times in 1,905 Posts
    Rep Power
    2204
    Reputation
    92850

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by oceanboy View Post
    As vroom vroom said the other day, thank Gerry Harvey you dog!
    I wouldn’t piss on the arsehole if he was on fire, unless of course, my urine somehow became inflammatory....
    Cheers
    Ted (Al)

  • The Following 9 Users Say Thank You to Al Bundy For This Useful Post:

    alpha0ne (26-06-19),Bigfella237 (24-06-19),eaglem (25-06-19),enf (24-06-19),Guiseppe (24-06-19),Jma (24-06-19),Mr 672A (25-06-19),shred (26-06-19),william10 (24-06-19)

  • #9
    Senior Member

    Join Date
    May 2018
    Posts
    2,251
    Thanks
    527
    Thanked 1,857 Times in 894 Posts
    Rep Power
    881
    Reputation
    36714

    Default

    Everything I have Bought from OS on fleabay has had the GST added in one transaction at the checkout.

    I'd love to see how much GST has been raised and the HONEST cost of enforcing it.
    Also like to see how much it has increased Jerkoff Handjobs profits now the playing field has been " Leveled".

    My prediction, Probably cost him more in people boycotting the jerk that making him any money.
    I know I took my father elsewhere when he saw a lounge and Dining room suite there before Christmas. Looked at the brand, googled it on my tablet inside the store then went to another place just down the road with the same furniture that of course I was able to negotiate a significantly better price on.

    That alone cost Jerkoff Jerrys store an $8K sale Not to mention another $1500 in a TV stand and Coffee table he bought a few weeks later.

  • #10
    Senior Member

    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Posts
    2,235
    Thanks
    2,822
    Thanked 1,514 Times in 835 Posts
    Rep Power
    795
    Reputation
    27703

    Default

    we dont shop at that Fwits store either , or at any of his associated stores like Domayne or Lincraft. Like you , we go in there to compare prices and always find them more expensive. On our recent kitchen package we went to the local HN while they were having a sale weekend and absolutely busted the salesmans balls on the deal as low as he could go. Then looked at the Good Guys online and found their prices lower anyway , not on sale. The bloke at Good Guys reckons GH makes most of his money on the easy to get finance deals which is easy when he owns that too.

  • The Following User Says Thank You to VroomVroom For This Useful Post:

    ol' boy (25-06-19)

  • #11
    Senior Member
    Mr 672A's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    The only Country in the English speaking World where you cannot sue your Solicitor or Barrister.
    Posts
    4,271
    Thanks
    1,167
    Thanked 1,173 Times in 677 Posts
    Rep Power
    722
    Reputation
    21825

    Default

    I love watching movies either 1080p or 2160p HDR but "Harvey not Normal" has stuffed me, no NOT THE GST I don't give a shit if I have to pay GST but some of the Movies I want will never be sold in Australian for what ever reason and can only get them from Amazon USA and considering Amazon US doesn't ship to Australia anymore and considering Amazon Australia wont have then I'm stuffed so F..k you Harvey Not Normal I will never set my foot in your stores ever again.

  • #12
    Senior Member

    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    Sydney
    Posts
    1,703
    Thanks
    227
    Thanked 1,112 Times in 571 Posts
    Rep Power
    637
    Reputation
    20724

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Mr 672A View Post
    ...and considering Amazon US doesn't ship to Australia anymore and considering Amazon Australia wont have then I'm stuffed so F..k you Harvey Not Normal I will never set my foot in your stores ever again.
    Amazon International stores (including the US) started shipping to Australia again in November 2018.

    Guess that means Gerry can expect you as a customer again

  • The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to peteramjet For This Useful Post:

    enf (25-06-19),Uncle Fester (25-06-19)

  • #13
    Senior Member
    Uncle Fester's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Commonly found in a pantry or the bottom of a fridge, searching for grains, fermented or distilled
    Posts
    6,405
    Thanks
    2,289
    Thanked 4,414 Times in 2,517 Posts
    Rep Power
    2046
    Reputation
    81778

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by peteramjet View Post
    Amazon International stores (including the US) started shipping to Australia again in November 2018.

    Guess that means Gerry can expect you as a customer again

    Thanks for confirming that. I saw on Amazon US shipping to Australia for some items but hadn't used them directly anymore as most items I need do NOT ship to Australia.
    This might be the same problem for Mr. 672A.

    A redirect service is then useful. They can also repack a bunch of orders in one box to save shipping cost but USPS can be pretty expensive.
    Generally Amazon international is cheaper as some sellers are handled by Amazon and can combine shipping but many others are not, which is mostly the case with the hard to find stuff I need.
    Last edited by Uncle Fester; 25-06-19 at 11:52 PM.
    Update: A deletion of features that work well and ain't broke but are deemed outdated in order to add things that are up to date and broken.
    Compatibility: A word soon to be deleted from our dictionaries as it is outdated.
    Humans: Entities that are not only outdated but broken... AI-self-learning-update-error...terminate...terminate...

  • #14
    Senior Member

    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    Sydney
    Posts
    1,703
    Thanks
    227
    Thanked 1,112 Times in 571 Posts
    Rep Power
    637
    Reputation
    20724

    Default GST on Overseas Purchases.....

    Quote Originally Posted by nomeat View Post
    hadn't used them directly anymore as most items I need do NOT ship to Australia.
    This might be the same problem for Mr. 672A.
    Yeah, not all Amazon items ship from the US (or other countries) to Australia, but it has always been that way, and isn’t as a result of Amazon AU opening.

  • The Following User Says Thank You to peteramjet For This Useful Post:

    enf (26-06-19)

  • #15
    Senior Member

    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Tasmania
    Posts
    869
    Thanks
    1,485
    Thanked 956 Times in 416 Posts
    Rep Power
    544
    Reputation
    18321

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by george65 View Post
    I'd love to see how much GST has been raised and the HONEST cost of enforcing it.
    I don’t think the owners of bricks and mortar stores like Gerry Harvey ever thought introducing the GST on low value items was about levelling the playing field on price. Pretty much everything I buy from overseas is still much less expensive than its equivalent in a local shop - even with the piddling little 10% on top.

    GST on items under $1000 was always about inserting an inefficient government organisation into every transaction, so that your overseas purchase would spend months sitting in a customs warehouse and you’d go back to being a good consumer and pay The Australia Tax on everything you bought. (“The Australia Tax” is that extra 100-200% that things cost over what we would pay if we lived anywhere else in the World), Fortunately, the system we now have failed to bring in that delay and inefficiency, so we all happily pay our 10% and the local stores still miss out.

    One day, the message will sink in that they really need to fix the greed and inefficiency in the Australian distribution chain and actually get competitive.

  • The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to shred For This Useful Post:

    DB44 (26-06-19),lsemmens (26-06-19),Tiny (26-06-19),Uncle Fester (26-06-19)

  • #16
    Senior Member
    Mr 672A's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    The only Country in the English speaking World where you cannot sue your Solicitor or Barrister.
    Posts
    4,271
    Thanks
    1,167
    Thanked 1,173 Times in 677 Posts
    Rep Power
    722
    Reputation
    21825

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by nomeat View Post
    Thanks for confirming that. I saw on Amazon US shipping to Australia for some items but hadn't used them directly anymore as most items I need do NOT ship to Australia.
    This might be the same problem for Mr. 672A.
    As Far as I know I cannot get blu rays shipped from Amazon US. No this was 12 months ago, not unless something has changed

  • #17
    Premium Member
    hoe's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Age
    60
    Posts
    6,367
    Thanks
    266
    Thanked 4,596 Times in 1,948 Posts
    Rep Power
    1820
    Reputation
    70528

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Mr 672A View Post
    As Far as I know I cannot get blu rays shipped from Amazon US. No this was 12 months ago, not unless something has changed
    it's not amazon, it's the individual sellers who wont ship overseas.
    i recently bought a couple of blu rays from amazon usa no problem...

  • #18
    Senior Member
    Uncle Fester's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Commonly found in a pantry or the bottom of a fridge, searching for grains, fermented or distilled
    Posts
    6,405
    Thanks
    2,289
    Thanked 4,414 Times in 2,517 Posts
    Rep Power
    2046
    Reputation
    81778

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by shred View Post

    GST on items under $1000 was always about inserting an inefficient government organisation into every transaction, so that your overseas purchase would spend months sitting in a customs warehouse and you’d go back to being a good consumer and pay The Australia Tax on everything you bought. (“The Australia Tax” is that extra 100-200% that things cost over what we would pay if we lived anywhere else in the World), Fortunately, the system we now have failed to bring in that delay and inefficiency, so we all happily pay our 10% and the local stores still miss out.

    One day, the message will sink in that they really need to fix the greed and inefficiency in the Australian distribution chain and actually get competitive.
    Yes in big bold red, that is the major issue in this country, which is also what I personally experienced 15 years ago when I made the mistake to venture into entrepreneurship in Australia. The amount of profit the mandatory middlemen and retailers like BigW charge kills anything Australian made.
    Another major issue is the insane government regulation we have here that has nothing to do with safety or common sense but solely to secure profits for a small niche or just government revenue.

    The strange thing our retailers earn a comparatively small amount (which is always %based on it's cost to manufacture and distribute to the retailer) on the cheap Chinese junk.
    They could sell a local made product using a relative rather % based margin and still earn the same while making the Aussie product affordable.
    This would bring back Australian manufacture and I could have sold stuff like my toaster that never can burn toast.

    Also what the primary industry(farmers/fishers) have to deal with the major supermarket mafia here should be illegal.
    Last edited by Uncle Fester; 26-06-19 at 01:21 PM.
    Update: A deletion of features that work well and ain't broke but are deemed outdated in order to add things that are up to date and broken.
    Compatibility: A word soon to be deleted from our dictionaries as it is outdated.
    Humans: Entities that are not only outdated but broken... AI-self-learning-update-error...terminate...terminate...

  • The Following User Says Thank You to Uncle Fester For This Useful Post:

    shred (26-06-19)

  • #19
    Senior Member
    Mr 672A's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    The only Country in the English speaking World where you cannot sue your Solicitor or Barrister.
    Posts
    4,271
    Thanks
    1,167
    Thanked 1,173 Times in 677 Posts
    Rep Power
    722
    Reputation
    21825

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by hoe View Post
    it's not amazon, it's the individual sellers who wont ship overseas.
    i recently bought a couple of blu rays from amazon usa no problem...
    Yes the individual sellers on Amazon don't ship to OZ but Amazon itself didn't ship to Australia, well this was what I was told, I will have to try again and make sure its Amazon doing the selling to me.

  • #20
    Administrator

    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Newcastle, Nsw
    Posts
    4,604
    Thanks
    815
    Thanked 2,531 Times in 1,138 Posts
    Rep Power
    1178
    Reputation
    41376

    Default

    Amazon did block shipping to Australian customers for a short time but did a backflip.

  • The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to WhiteOx For This Useful Post:

    DB44 (26-06-19),Mr 672A (26-06-19)

  • Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

    Bookmarks

    Posting Permissions

    • You may not post new threads
    • You may not post replies
    • You may not post attachments
    • You may not edit your posts
    •