GST on imported goods still happening December 1st?

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#2362806 29-Nov-2019 12:31

Just did an amazon order as well before the 1st. I'm kind of expecting that when the first comes around then we will start seeing the 15% in taxes/fees at checkout.

allio

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#2363013 29-Nov-2019 15:54

I've also taken the punt and ordered. Due to arrive mid-December. We'll see.

Nil Einne

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#2363064 29-Nov-2019 17:28

IIRC Amazon seemed to be broken for me once before a few months ago and didn't seem to collect GST on a large order. I didn't think it worth risking it though, and so didn't go over the limit.

Anyway, I've actually been wondering about what happens in the switch over period myself. Notably, AFAIK if Amazon isn't going to ship straight away, they also don't charge straight away. Maybe the date of invoicing is what matters, but then again I know from experience if your payment fails they seem to re-asses tax. (One time I wasn't initially charged tax, paying in USD, then my card was over the limit so then they did charge tax when I retried. It was refunded of course.) So could people buying now suddenly find they need to pay GST when it ships? I would assume Amazon is going to warn people before doing this if they do. But I would also assume they'd warn people now. But maybe they figure they can just blame the NZ government.

richms

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#2363128 29-Nov-2019 20:04

Nil Einne:

IIRC Amazon seemed to be broken for me once before a few months ago and didn't seem to collect GST on a large order. I didn't think it worth risking it though, and so didn't go over the limit.

Anyway, I've actually been wondering about what happens in the switch over period myself. Notably, AFAIK if Amazon isn't going to ship straight away, they also don't charge straight away. Maybe the date of invoicing is what matters, but then again I know from experience if your payment fails they seem to re-asses tax. (One time I wasn't initially charged tax, paying in USD, then my card was over the limit so then they did charge tax when I retried. It was refunded of course.) So could people buying now suddenly find they need to pay GST when it ships? I would assume Amazon is going to warn people before doing this if they do. But I would also assume they'd warn people now. But maybe they figure they can just blame the NZ government.

My orders have shipped already so I am guessing that they cant do anything now. Might put a bit more thru tonight, since even if I hang onto it for 3 months on the credit card its still cheaper than the 15% extra from sunday.

Richard rich.ms

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#2363214 30-Nov-2019 07:44

So would it be correct to say that post the introduction of the new regime, if a retailer doesn't collect any tax and the cost of the items is below the $1000 then you'll pay nothing at the border?

Behodar

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#2363216 30-Nov-2019 07:47

Geektastic: So would it be correct to say that post the introduction of the new regime, if a retailer doesn't collect any tax and the cost of the items is below the $1000 then you'll pay nothing at the border?

That is indeed correct.

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#2363217 30-Nov-2019 07:58

Nil Einne:

IIRC Amazon seemed to be broken for me once before a few months ago and didn't seem to collect GST on a large order. I didn't think it worth risking it though, and so didn't go over the limit.

Anyway, I've actually been wondering about what happens in the switch over period myself. Notably, AFAIK if Amazon isn't going to ship straight away, they also don't charge straight away. Maybe the date of invoicing is what matters, but then again I know from experience if your payment fails they seem to re-asses tax. (One time I wasn't initially charged tax, paying in USD, then my card was over the limit so then they did charge tax when I retried. It was refunded of course.) So could people buying now suddenly find they need to pay GST when it ships? I would assume Amazon is going to warn people before doing this if they do. But I would also assume they'd warn people now. But maybe they figure they can just blame the NZ government.

Amazon cannot charge you more than you agreed to pay without your explicit authorisation.

The NZ Government should be grateful for any retailer participating in this hair-brained scheme. If a few payments go under the radar for whatever reason, it shouldn't be of any great concern.

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Geektastic

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#2363257 30-Nov-2019 08:07

Behodar:
Geektastic: So would it be correct to say that post the introduction of the new regime, if a retailer doesn't collect any tax and the cost of the items is below the $1000 then you'll pay nothing at the border?

That is indeed correct.

Well, I assume the government are banking on the major retailers covering their losses then, combined with cost savings in admin.

Much of the stuff I order is under the threshold from companies who won't register due to being small and it'll be great to skip the will it/won't it anxiety for almost all my deliveries.

rayonline

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#2363471 30-Nov-2019 14:22

Will be interesting if the online stores are to charge GST from tomorrow. Also I wonder if this is unfortunate timing for them, with Christmas just over the corner would people take advantage of this GST free period 1 month before Christmas.

richms

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#2363545 30-Nov-2019 16:01

rayonline:

Will be interesting if the online stores are to charge GST from tomorrow. Also I wonder if this is unfortunate timing for them, with Christmas just over the corner would people take advantage of this GST free period 1 month before Christmas.

I for sure am. Ordering xmas gifts from amazon straight to relatives that im buying for. They will probably get it on the 13th according to amazon, but better that then spend a needless 15% extra.

Richard rich.ms

Nil Einne

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#2363750 1-Dec-2019 00:17

So it's happening

Although I question if this is correct but guess it could be argued either way.

I wonder what happens when you use gift cards? I already used mine so can't test. Edit: Looking at the way gift cards work when I used them, I think they will charge tax correctly when you use gift cards to pay. They're used more like an additional payment method after the total.

Nil Einne

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#2363764 1-Dec-2019 01:03

SirHumphreyAppleby:

Amazon cannot charge you more than you agreed to pay without your explicit authorisation.

The NZ Government should be grateful for any retailer participating in this hair-brained scheme. If a few payments go under the radar for whatever reason, it shouldn't be of any great concern.

They shouldn't doesn't mean they won't if they're crap. But anyway I agree with you it's unlikely. But it's also largely a moot point. If Amazon does email you to say 'whoops we screwed up and now need to charge you tax or cancel your order' or 'whoops the government is evil (and we're incompetent but not going to mention that), and now need to charge you tax or cancel your order' you have 2 choices. 1) Agree to pay more. 2) Cancel your order.

Geektastic:

Well, I assume the government are banking on the major retailers covering their losses then, combined with cost savings in admin.

Much of the stuff I order is under the threshold from companies who won't register due to being small and it'll be great to skip the will it/won't it anxiety for almost all my deliveries.

I'm fairly with this sort of thing while there's a long tail it's small. $60,000 is a fairly small amount. So even with a lot of companies under that, it's still only likely to be a small percentage of total transactions. So what they make up for in those under $400 from large retailers where it used to be avoided (along with those over $400 who managed to avoid it) will well make up for those small percentage of $400-$1000 from retailers small enough that they don't need to comply. A far bigger thing is likely to be those who are large enough that they should follow but don't. Along with those who claim to comply, but are cheating. It's far harder to audit a foreign company. And even with stuff like eBay there are bound to be ways to cheat. (E.g. in Australia I believe companies are falsely claiming to be Australian and so already dealing with GST themselves and so eBay doesn't charge it, but these companies aren't actually Australian or paying GST.) And as for the former, I'm sure there are many proposals on how to deal with companies who don't comply when they should, but none are particularly easy given our small size.

Nil Einne

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#2363770 1-Dec-2019 04:14

Actually thinking about it more, I guess what they are doing with the promotional credit is actually what you'd expect them to do. I wasn't thinking about it in value added terms or how it works here in similar circumstances correctly. Also I've received confirmation from someone with a gift card that they do charge tax correctly when you use gift cards to pay. You don't pay tax when buying gift cards.