Amazon to Block AU buyers from purchasing from Amazon.com

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#2029376 4-Jun-2018 19:28

There's a whole lot of wrong in this thread. Amazon isn't proposing to geoblock based on IP address and prevent Australians from even seeing the promised land (tm), they're proposing that if you select an Australian shipping address at checkout, you get redirected to amazon.com.au with the appropriate product added to cart (or the all-too-familiar "Sorry, this product does not ship to Australia. Please check other sellers that may ship internationally").

If you have a reshipper in the states, and select that as the destination address, Amazon will happily still ship anything in their catalog and not charge GST (as, obviously, they have no reason to believe GST is due). The reshipper may or may not then charge GST depending on the extension status of their middle finger in Canberra's direction.

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#2029796 5-Jun-2018 13:19

freitasm:

Tax avoidance is not a crime. Being greedy and not contributing to society in general leaves a bad taste, especially when everyone is paying their 39%, GST, levies. But this is not something Amazon is doing alone. Microsoft, Adobe, LinkedIn, Apple, Facebook all do this. Those who can, do. Others... Well we pay taxes.

Very nicely worded.

The tax revenues that govts don't get is what could be used to better fund health, education, housing ...

Instead more and more of the tax burden is being borne (directly and indirectly) by a small, working population.

Also, that working population is shrinking as the population ages and as local jobs disappear - replaced by overseas corporates who don't pay tax.

Mike

richms

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#2029968 5-Jun-2018 18:40

MikeAqua:

Very nicely worded.

The tax revenues that govts don't get is what could be used to better fund health, education, housing ...

Instead more and more of the tax burden is being borne (directly and indirectly) by a small, working population.

Also, that working population is shrinking as the population ages and as local jobs disappear - replaced by overseas corporates who don't pay tax.

If local jobs are disappearing, why is unemployment so low? The whole hard to find a job narrative is a spin from employers to stop staff leaving. Never been harder to find staff as now from everyone I have talked to in many industries.

Richard rich.ms

tdgeek

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#2030012 5-Jun-2018 18:55

richms:

MikeAqua:

Very nicely worded.

The tax revenues that govts don't get is what could be used to better fund health, education, housing ...

Instead more and more of the tax burden is being borne (directly and indirectly) by a small, working population.

Also, that working population is shrinking as the population ages and as local jobs disappear - replaced by overseas corporates who don't pay tax.

If local jobs are disappearing, why is unemployment so low? The whole hard to find a job narrative is a spin from employers to stop staff leaving. Never been harder to find staff as now from everyone I have talked to in many industries.

Mike wasn't talking now, he is talking the trend. The Govt tax take is Income Tax and GST. If GST reduces due to offshore retail, that has to change. Tax that to level the field or tax Kiwis directly.

Hashtagtruth

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#2038042 15-Jun-2018 09:21

not very happy about the government wanting to add GST onto Amazon goods purchased. I bought several hoodies off amazon and paid $45 in shipping alone and the hoodies themselves cost between $40 USD and $70USD and came in one package so it starts to really add up I wouldn't want to have so start paying GST on top of that...

networkn

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#2038045 15-Jun-2018 09:28

Hashtagtruth:

not very happy about the government wanting to add GST onto Amazon goods purchased. I bought a hoodie off amazon and paid $45 in shipping alone and the hoodie itself cost $40USD so it starts to really add up I wouldn't want to have so start paying GST on top of that...

You'd pay GST if you bought it from a retailer in NZ?

tdgeek

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#2038051 15-Jun-2018 09:40

networkn:

Hashtagtruth:

not very happy about the government wanting to add GST onto Amazon goods purchased. I bought a hoodie off amazon and paid $45 in shipping alone and the hoodie itself cost $40USD so it starts to really add up I wouldn't want to have so start paying GST on top of that...

You'd pay GST if you bought it from a retailer in NZ?

#truth

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#2038057 15-Jun-2018 09:43

well why were we not paying the GST beforehand? Why did NZ plan to add the GST are they just copying what Aussie is planning on doing? one countries government copying the other? it just seems a bit strange both countries doing this around the same time....

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#2038069 15-Jun-2018 09:58

Hashtagtruth:

well why were we not paying the GST beforehand? Why did NZ plan to add the GST are they just copying what Aussie is planning on doing? one countries government copying the other? it just seems a bit strange both countries doing this around the same time....

Wrong on all counts

NZ arent planning to "add" GST. They aren't copying Australia.

Overseas purchases have always been required to have GST added. Thats happened within the threshold, but there has not been a mechanism to capture many online purchases. Now they are adding it after all these years. In reality they arent adding GST they are now collecting the GST that should have been but wasnt added before. Not copying AUS, checking what issues they have first

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#2038070 15-Jun-2018 10:07

So what your saying is they never had the ability to collect the GST and now as software has improved they can now do it?

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#2038071 15-Jun-2018 10:08

Hashtagtruth:

well why were we not paying the GST beforehand? Why did NZ plan to add the GST are they just copying what Aussie is planning on doing? one countries government copying the other? it just seems a bit strange both countries doing this around the same time....

They're not adding GST. Everything you import is liable for GST and/or duty.

Your US$40 clothing (and US$40 shipping) is liable for GST at 15% on the US$80 figure and duty at 10% on the US$40 figure however this is simply not collected because it falls below the NZ$60 de minimis.

At present however GST and/or duty is not collected when it's below the $60 de minimis value because it's deemed to be cost ineffective to do so due to the processing costs of collecting this at the border via the current means.

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#2038074 15-Jun-2018 10:11

sbiddle:

Hashtagtruth:

well why were we not paying the GST beforehand? Why did NZ plan to add the GST are they just copying what Aussie is planning on doing? one countries government copying the other? it just seems a bit strange both countries doing this around the same time....

They're not adding GST. Everything you import is liable for GST and/or duty.

Your US$40 clothing (and US$40 shipping) is liable for GST at 15% on the US$80 figure and duty at 10% on the US$40 figure however this is simply not collected because it falls below the NZ$60 de minimis.

At present however GST and/or duty is not collected when it's below the $60 de minimis value because it's deemed to be cost ineffective to do so due to the processing costs of collecting this at the border via the current means.

$60? I thought the threshold was $400 before they collect?

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#2038075 15-Jun-2018 10:12

Hashtagtruth:

So what your saying is they never had the ability to collect the GST and now as software has improved they can now do it?

Kind of.

The current global strategies around collecting duties around the world had always relied on collecting this at the border which is highly cost ineffective. Amazon for example already collect GST and/or duty for NZ goods, so there is no reason this needs to happen at the border when big retailers have the ability to collect these fees at the checkout and pass them onto NZ. Because this can now be done by retailers it means the de minimis can be removed.

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#2038076 15-Jun-2018 10:14

Hashtagtruth:

sbiddle:

Hashtagtruth:

well why were we not paying the GST beforehand? Why did NZ plan to add the GST are they just copying what Aussie is planning on doing? one countries government copying the other? it just seems a bit strange both countries doing this around the same time....

They're not adding GST. Everything you import is liable for GST and/or duty.

Your US$40 clothing (and US$40 shipping) is liable for GST at 15% on the US$80 figure and duty at 10% on the US$40 figure however this is simply not collected because it falls below the NZ$60 de minimis.

At present however GST and/or duty is not collected when it's below the $60 de minimis value because it's deemed to be cost ineffective to do so due to the processing costs of collecting this at the border via the current means.

$60? I thought the threshold was $400 before they collect?

Nope. The threshold is the de minimis value which is $60 and was $50 prior to GST increasing.

$400 (or around $230 if the item is clothing or shoes which incur GST and duty) is simply the value at which the de minimis threahold is met.

rb99

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#2038084 15-Jun-2018 10:33

Call me cynical but it sounds like there won't be much leveling of the playing fields with this online gst thing

- https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12070643

"I don't foresee there is going to be a huge spike in prices but what I do think is that local retailers are going to start to make up some of the margins they've been losing over the last couple of years due to GST loophole." Florkowski said.

"By retailers starting to increase some of these prices, I think it's going to be part and parcel of the level playing field because the online GST loop has been closed so they won't be competing purely in price just to be within the market."

online is going up so retail has to go up as well.

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

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