overseas internet purchase sales tax

[nigelr]

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/busi...-1226466814408

I don't like the sound of this one little bit!

[Triple]

Blame Gerry Harvey And I'm sure previous studies showed that it was not economically viable?

[WalrusLike]

Nah this is a good thing.... to police it the tax dept will start sharing data with ASIO on the internet activities of citizens to monitor any taxable purchases.

A whole new line of work for government, and a whole new area of law. The lawyers will do well out of it.... Everybody wins!

[douggy]

And the retailers promise us that the retil cost of imported proucts will drop when this happens

[ovakil]

And the retailers promise us that the retil cost of imported proucts will drop when this happens

Maybe if they drop there price now,we would buy.
What is difference between dropping price now or after

[finga]

Now.....who do I know who lives overseas who can send me a present every now again??

The other day I purchased some rare earth magnets on ebay. Total cost including shipping AU$17.47
So who is going to determine may much tax I'll need to pay on AU$17.47 worth of magnets (if indeed I need to pay tax as they're not able to be made here) and who is going to collect the tax on the AU$17.47 worth of magnets and where are the magnets going to be stored until I pay the tax?
I hope they do bring it in and watch as the system collapses after about 3 days. They'll forget about it then.

[Boat Hog]

The other day I purchased some rare earth magnets on ebay.

How rare are these earth magnets Scotty? Only asking 'cos my Mum used to call me an earth magnet and I was wondering how special they are?

Ohh ... hang on .....nope it was dirt magnet, yeah that's it, Mum used to call we a dirt magnet!

[douggy]

Hint of sarcasm is there I believe

[Steeler]

Blame Gerry Harvey And I'm sure previous studies showed that it was not economically viable?

Along with the coalition state govt in NSW who have been lobbying for this , The treasurer of NSW was getting plenty of media exposure just last week calling for the feds to impose 10%.

[trueblue]

wouldn't that just sh!t you when you bring in something that you can't find in Australia

[finga]

wouldn't that just sh!t you when you bring in something that you can't find in Australia

How would they tax mail order brides?

[Boat Hog]

How would they tax mail order brides?

Easy, just work out how many nookies per marriage (might be difficult - always overestimated at the start) and then the tax department takes 10% of those!

Or maybe they'll just take 10% of the nookie per year and give it to those who can't afford their own imported nookie. Imagine the que at Centrelink!

All very standard Government practice (screw the people who can afford the most things).

[Bros]

There was a survey done very recently and it found most of the internet transactions on line were within Australia and only a small amount came from overseas. Thinking about my last purchases in the last year I bought about 20 items on line and all were in Australia and much cheaper than the local shops.
Almost all of the items were drop shipped so you are cutting out the retail store

[pescados]

All very standard Government practice (screw the people who can afford the most things).

And those who cannot afford it get right royally screwed as well.

[Qlder1]

There was a survey done very recently and it found most of the internet transactions on line were within Australia and only a small amount came from overseas. Thinking about my last purchases in the last year I bought about 20 items on line and all were in Australia and much cheaper than the local shops.
Almost all of the items were drop shipped so you are cutting out the retail store

So you would have paid The GST on your 20 items ..... I don't think anyone is trying to stop you buying anything from anywhere , including overseas stores, but its not paying GST on your purchases that get local retailers upset. Our tax system, like it or not, relies on the GST to function, and the current loophole is unfair to local retailers and importers. Do you realize that even if a importer gets a small shipment from OS that falls under the threshold they still have to pay the tax when they either sell the item or do their BAS..