B&H Customs and GST

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CNZ

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#274464 23-Aug-2020 14:50

Do customs charge GST on items coming from B&H CPU's from them are $100+ cheaper even with reasonably fast shipping. Do Customs collect duty on items under $1000 from companies who dont collect GST?

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1485447-REG/amd_100_100000023box_ryzen_9_3900x_3_8.html

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Jase2985

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#2548231 23-Aug-2020 15:43

https://www.customs.govt.nz/personal/duty-and-gst/whats-my-duty-estimator/

quickymart

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#2548253 23-Aug-2020 16:57

I thought you meant Benson and Hedges when I saw the thread title. Guess I'm showing my age... :/

lucky015

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#2548287 23-Aug-2020 17:32

Under the current system it's either charged by the overseas retailer if they meet the sales threshold to be chased by NZ Customs or not charged at all as NZ Customs don't intercept stuff below $1k NZD. (Exceptions may apply for items with special requirements)

The duty checker linked above gets me every time I've used as I don't think I've ever bought something from overseas which actually fit into any of the categories listed.

Geektastic

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#2548424 23-Aug-2020 21:23

quickymart:

I thought you meant Benson and Hedges when I saw the thread title. Guess I'm showing my age... :/

A friend of mine named his gundogs Benson and Hedges!

sbiddle

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#2548501 24-Aug-2020 08:54

There have been a number of prior threads on here discussing B&H and GST.

In a nutshell you will not need to pay GST for items under $1000 as it's assumed that GST (if required) has been paid by the retailer. You need to decide for yourself if you want to support a company that's very clearly taking an unethical approach and not charging GST as they should be doing, as it's highly unlikely they would not meet the threshold for GST registration considering how popular they are in NZ.

It does show in many ways how stupid the law is, because there is very little that can be done to make them comply with our laws.

CNZ

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#2548529 24-Aug-2020 09:50

Having to charge GST on eBay auctions not those Chinese sellers is silly too

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Kyanar

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#2548728 24-Aug-2020 14:06

sbiddle:

There have been a number of prior threads on here discussing B&H and GST.

In a nutshell you will not need to pay GST for items under $1000 as it's assumed that GST (if required) has been paid by the retailer. You need to decide for yourself if you want to support a company that's very clearly taking an unethical approach and not charging GST as they should be doing, as it's highly unlikely they would not meet the threshold for GST registration considering how popular they are in NZ.

It does show in many ways how stupid the law is, because there is very little that can be done to make them comply with our laws.

I really don't see how it's unethical for a company that exists in a foreign jurisdiction and has no physical operations in New Zealand to choose not to comply with New Zealand tax law where they don't operate. Expecting companies to have to keep track of tax rules for every city, county, state, country, and economic area on the planet is what's unreasonable. If the New Zealand government wants tax to be paid on all purchases, the obligation should be on the person within New Zealand to pay it (the so-called "use tax rule").

elpenguino

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#2548801 24-Aug-2020 15:39

CNZ: Having to charge GST on eBay auctions not those Chinese sellers is silly too

I'm getting GST added to my $4 Alieexpress purchases, which Chinese sellers are you talking about?

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

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#2548810 24-Aug-2020 15:48

quickymart:

I thought you meant Benson and Hedges when I saw the thread title. Guess I'm showing my age... :/

@quickymart Same as me

dejadeadnz

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#2548904 24-Aug-2020 17:08

Kyanar:

I really don't see how it's unethical for a company that exists in a foreign jurisdiction and has no physical operations in New Zealand to choose not to comply with New Zealand tax law where they don't operate. Expecting companies to have to keep track of tax rules for every city, county, state, country, and economic area on the planet is what's unreasonable. If the New Zealand government wants tax to be paid on all purchases, the obligation should be on the person within New Zealand to pay it (the so-called "use tax rule").

I agree with the sentiment but not the conclusion. B&H is clearly choosing an approach of using the tax advantage as a selling point - ethically one can certainly object to this. Where I think this kind of tax approach has gone wrong is that such extra-jurisdictional extensions should be done via international consensus. The common law and general constitutional presumption of most common law jurisdictions (the US is a strong exception in this regard) is that domestic laws should not have extra-territorial effect.

Fred99

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#2549823 26-Aug-2020 09:27

dejadeadnz:

Where I think this kind of tax approach has gone wrong is that such extra-jurisdictional extensions should be done via international consensus. territorial effect.

Possibly true at that scale, but just imagine a world where by international consensus, high wealth individuals and global corporations couldn't evade tax.
Anything bad news for Panama or Cyprus etc "financial & legal services industry" would be good news for the rest of the planet.