It appears as though all the expected changes to tax will kick in a year later than expected for those larger online retailers, now starting in July 2018 instead.
The new tax, which was due to be implemented next month, would have forced Australian consumers to pay a 10 per cent GST on overseas low-cost goods.
The delay is a win for international online giants but has angered local retailers, who believe they are being put at a disadvantage.
Gerry Harvey, chairman of retail behemoth Harvey Norman, argued the change was the result of clever lobbying by overseas internet retailers, who talked Australian politicians into delaying the change.
[...]
“If a product is $100 or $1000 in a shop in Australia you put 10 per cent GST on it. If the product is the same price and is imported from overseas you don’t put any GST on it. So it’s just a subsidy straight away to an offshore retailer. How anyone can say that’s a good idea is beyond me.
“If they pay no GST why should anyone in Australia pay GST?”
The government agreed to implement the tax in last year’s budget, claiming the move would level the playing field for small businesses and generate an extra $300 million in revenue over four years.
This might appease the big companies, which had threatened a geo-lock on the Australian market, but how does it affect others? And how does it affect you as an Australian collector and consumer of imported items? Let us know in the discussion in the Energon Pub!
, but I'm sure I'll be getting him some time in the next few days as well.
