Government changes tack on online shopping GST to avoid price hikes

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Forums › Politics › Government changes tack on online shopping GST to avoid price hikes

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#2110822 19-Oct-2018 10:18

I don't mind paying the GST on items I import as long as I don't have to pay all the extra taxes and charges on top of that, so hopefully the $1k limit also comes in.

My only fear is that "big companies" I use decide to blacklist New Zealand - does anyone know if Australians can still get Amazon USA to ship to them?

As I have said before, the majority of what I may wish to purchase in retail does not get sold here

trig42

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#2110826 19-Oct-2018 10:30

I think it's a good move.

As others have said, I have no issue paying the GST. The fees (IETF) annoyed me.

I buy clothes from Amazon, because they are cheaper (even with GST and Youshop) and they have a bigger range (Levi's 501s, which I wear everyday to work - Amazon usually has about 15 colours in my size at any one time. NZ Jeans stores - maybe 2, usually 1 - blue).

Will Youshop now charge the GST on Amazon purchases reshipped through them? They aren't selling the goods, so they shouldn't, and since Amazon is sending to Youshop in Portland, they shouldn't add any sales taxes.

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#2110994 19-Oct-2018 14:28

sbiddle:

Amazon made it very clear last year during the consultation process that they would stop shipping to Australia if the GST rules were introduced. The real reasons are complex and beyond the scope of this thread but do involve politics.

There is nothing to suggest that Amazon are looking to make any changes to NZ.

I disagree. The GST rules being introduced by New Zealand are nigh on identical to those used by Australia. To not subject New Zealand to the same rules would almost certainly result in Amazon once again being dragged in front of an Australian Senate Committee to "please explain" the inconsistent treatment of kiwis vs aussies under the exact same set of circumstances. It's highly likely Amazon will slam the doors on New Zealand as well.

sbiddle:

No it's not.

MPI recovers the cost of biosecurity screening using a user pays scheme that's part of the legislation. It is how it has always operated.

The irony of the legislation changes now is that the retailers complaining about private imports not being charged GST are now subsidising the cost of MPI screening for individuals importing goods who will no longer pay these.

Good. The de minimus was set specifically at a level where the amount collected balanced the amount it cost to collect it. Collecting GST on "low value purchases" was objectively bad for the government's cashflow, so retailers expecting the government to collect GST on it anyway to "level the playing field" was simply expecting the taxpayer at large to subsidise vindictive GST collection on purchases to prop up their own failing business models. They can just build a bridge and get right over it.

amiga500

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#2111009 19-Oct-2018 14:51

This change highlights what a high cost the NZ consumer is paying if they shop for electronic stuff at a small retailer in a mall. Soon these retailers won't be able to blame GST free items coming into NZ & they will have to look at whether they can trim prices enough to remain viable when the main difference will be the shipping cost for 100 gadgets in a big box versus the shipping cost for one gadget in a tiny box.

I am amazed that some of these retailers stay in business. In Christchurch there is one camera shop chain left and I think they get by because they sell picture frames to parents & grandparents who want permanent photos to look at. They even sell a range of candles! What that has to do with photography I simply cannot imagine - maybe low light? They also do photo printing but that must be a steadily declining affair as well seeing how good Google photos has become. So, I say bring it on. A lot of last century business models are about to bite the dust.

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#2111017 19-Oct-2018 15:04

Kyanar:

I disagree. The GST rules being introduced by New Zealand are nigh on identical to those used by Australia. To not subject New Zealand to the same rules would almost certainly result in Amazon once again being dragged in front of an Australian Senate Committee to "please explain" the inconsistent treatment of kiwis vs aussies under the exact same set of circumstances. It's highly likely Amazon will slam the doors on New Zealand as well.

It seems to me that the whole GST thing was more of an excuse on Amazon's part to stop people buying stuff off the cheaper/better stocked US site and drive the business to their new shiny new Aus site.

Not sure I'll buy the whole, "they won't want our money now" argument.

They're more than happy to front-up and then ignore criticism from UK select committees and the like with regards to their corporation tax dodging ways. Don't think the Aussie Senate will bother them much.

SpartanVXL

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#2111057 19-Oct-2018 15:49

Kyanar:

I disagree. The GST rules being introduced by New Zealand are nigh on identical to those used by Australia. To not subject New Zealand to the same rules would almost certainly result in Amazon once again being dragged in front of an Australian Senate Committee to "please explain" the inconsistent treatment of kiwis vs aussies under the exact same set of circumstances. It's highly likely Amazon will slam the doors on New Zealand as well.

Amazon already collect GST for NZ orders. The Aus situation is a little more than just a % extra on the pricetag on checkout.

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#2111092 19-Oct-2018 17:07

sbiddle:

Geektastic:

freitasm: MPI is not Customs...

Semantics. All run from taxation.

No it's not.

MPI recovers the cost of biosecurity screening using a user pays scheme that's part of the legislation. It is how it has always operated.

The irony of the legislation changes now is that the retailers complaining about private imports not being charged GST are now subsidising the cost of MPI screening for individuals importing goods who will no longer pay these.

So who charges the IETF, which is separate from the MPI biosecurity system entry levy?

It still can't be entirely user pays, presumably - even a common or garden letter will get screened just in case and there is no levy applicable to that.

sbiddle

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#2111268 20-Oct-2018 04:31

Geektastic:

So who charges the IETF, which is separate from the MPI biosecurity system entry levy?

It still can't be entirely user pays, presumably - even a common or garden letter will get screened just in case and there is no levy applicable to that.

IETF is a Customs fee collected when goods have to be entered into the Customs electronic entry system for processing. Customs also collect the MPI levy on behalf of MPI and pass it on to them.

When your letter is screened and you don't pay it's just like I've mentioned above - other users who do pay the fee are in effect subsidising it.

amiga500

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#2111269 20-Oct-2018 05:20

Why would collecting NZ GST be difficult for Amazon? I thought they would be already collecting various rates of state taxes for their USA customers, or am I getting that wrong?

sbiddle

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#2111272 20-Oct-2018 06:06

amiga500:
Why would collecting NZ GST be difficult for Amazon? I thought they would be already collecting various rates of state taxes for their USA customers, or am I getting that wrong?

It isn't difficult at all. They've already been doing it for NZ customers for about 7 years.

Kyanar

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#2111657 20-Oct-2018 22:01

SpartanVXL:
Kyanar:

I disagree. The GST rules being introduced by New Zealand are nigh on identical to those used by Australia. To not subject New Zealand to the same rules would almost certainly result in Amazon once again being dragged in front of an Australian Senate Committee to "please explain" the inconsistent treatment of kiwis vs aussies under the exact same set of circumstances. It's highly likely Amazon will slam the doors on New Zealand as well.

Amazon already collect GST for NZ orders. The Aus situation is a little more than just a % extra on the pricetag on checkout.

Amazon collected GST for Australian customers too. In fact, if an Australian goes to Amazon.com (not .com.au) and adds an item to cart that says "This item ships to Australia", then a price is quoted that includes shipping and GST (even for low value items) and then when Checkout is selected, a message comes up saying "Non-digital items on Amazon.com cannot be shipped to Australia". When you search for the same item on Amazon.com.au, it is only available from third party sellers and is four times the price - despite Amazon's claim that all Amazon Global Shipping eligible items will be available on Amazon.com.au without markup (which is clearly a load of rubbish).

It's actually not Amazon that calculates and pays the GST on expensive items, it was always DHL or their carrier that did it.

The Australian situation is exactly the same as the New Zealand situation.

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Geektastic

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#2111663 20-Oct-2018 23:06

Some companies don't charge it. For example, I subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud. When it was decided that such things should be subject to GST, Adobe sent out requests for GST numbers for registered users. I gave them mine and now all my transactions with them are GST exempt.

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#2112541 22-Oct-2018 21:55

Geektastic:

Some companies don't charge it. For example, I subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud. When it was decided that such things should be subject to GST, Adobe sent out requests for GST numbers for registered users. I gave them mine and now all my transactions with them are GST exempt.

This is standard for business users from major suppliers. If you are subscribing as a GST-registered business, you won't be charged GST. Which is essentially the same position if you were buying it from a NZ supplier, albeit that you get the GST back as an input credit instead of zero rating.

Senecio

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#2124590 13-Nov-2018 09:12

Here's my recent experience of buying local vs importing.

As per my post in the "post your vehicles" thread my Skoda's 4WD system had stopped working as the Haldex primer pump had died. Not uncommon in VAG group cars with the Haldex rear coupling for on demand AWD. Went searching for the parts I needed and found this locally.

https://skodaparts.co.nz/clutch-haldex-filter/715-repair-kit-for-primer-pump.html?search_query=haldex&results=1

$977.50 incl. GST for the pump I needed. I called Volkswagen and Audi as they're all the same and was quoted near enough the same price.

Went searching overseas to see if I could source it cheaper and came across this.

https://www.haldexrepairs.co.uk/shop/pumps/0ay598549a-generation-4-pump-haldex-vag/

140.83 GBP = $270

Even when you add their stupidly expensive shipping of 37GBP it still only came to $340 NZD delivered to my door. I'm all for supporting local businesses but close to 3 times the price for an identical item is taking the piss. I was not charged GST but even if I was I was much better off.

Bluntj

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#2124598 13-Nov-2018 09:19

Senecio:

Here's my recent experience of buying local vs importing.

As per my post in the "post your vehicles" thread my Skoda's 4WD system had stopped working as the Haldex primer pump had died. Not uncommon in VAG group cars with the Haldex rear coupling for on demand AWD. Went searching for the parts I needed and found this locally.

https://skodaparts.co.nz/clutch-haldex-filter/715-repair-kit-for-primer-pump.html?search_query=haldex&results=1

$977.50 incl. GST for the pump I needed. I called Volkswagen and Audi as they're all the same and was quoted near enough the same price.

Went searching overseas to see if I could source it cheaper and came across this.

https://www.haldexrepairs.co.uk/shop/pumps/0ay598549a-generation-4-pump-haldex-vag/

140.83 GBP = $270

Even when you add their stupidly expensive shipping of 37GBP it still only came to $340 NZD delivered to my door. I'm all for supporting local businesses but close to 3 times the price for an identical item is taking the piss. I was not charged GST but even if I was I was much better off.

NZ seem to have way too many in the chain all taking a clip of the ticket. Same as most things.

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