BTW the new Cranberries Album is pretty good, I am looking forward to the concert (it's always my wifes due date for our second child) if I get to go. Otherwise I might have 2 tickets to sell on short notice if anyone has any interest.
networkn: Log out of Itunes, change the country to USA by clicking the flag at the bottom right of the main window, go to the itunes store, "buy" a free app, and when it asks for a login, create a new apple ID, when it asks for a credit card select none, type a usa address ( I used Best Buy HQ) and then Voila!
That's not such a good idea. Using Best Buy's HQ when buying from Best Buy is explicitly supported because Best Buy has written exemptions to their validation functions for that address to support pick up orders. Apple, obviously, has not - and will probably catch this during their next validation run (they do it relatively frequently, I've had to change the address on my account twice - so far the only address that has stuck has been a hotel in California).
NonprayingMantis: NZ prices are usually quoted *including* the sales tax of 15% GST US prices are usually quoted *excluding* any sales tax (which varies depending on the state)
whilst GST wont explain all the difference in the above album, it is something that people nearly always forget when comparing US prices with NZ prices.
GST is not cjharged on iTunes Store purchases, as iTunes purchases are sold to you by Apple Australia Pty Ltd. GST is not relevant to iTunes music prices at all.
Are you sure? It's quite hard to find anything that says that.
The iTunes Store is provided by Apple Pty Limited ("Apple").
About us: Our ABN is 46 002 510 054 and our registered office is at Level 13, Capital Centre, 255 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia.
It also asserts that services transactions may be subject to GST, but the IRD has always held that purchasing licensed content (music, software) from overseas counts as a service derived at the point of origin of the seller, therefore making it GST exempt.
I’m not disagreeing with you, but your link *doesn’t* say that it is exempt from GST, just that the service is provided by an australian registered company, which may or may not mean it is GST exempt
I can find no official stuff from iTunes or IRD specifically stating it is GST exempt, but several things direct from iTunes themselves (as linked above) that clearly state NZ pricing is inclusive of GST.
I mean, if it were that easy to avoid GST then it stands to reason that iTunes would setup a separate office over here to supply to Australia and avoid australian GST that way (supply to NZ from australia, supply to Australia from NZ. Heck, why not supply to the UK from the USA too, avoid VAT!
stevenz: JB Hifi are listing the physical disk of the Cranberries album for $24.99 FWIW.
Or $29.99 for the "Deluxe" album which has an extra Live CD.
Why would you bother buying the iTunes version in that case?
I usually keep an eye on Physical versus Digital prices and have noticed that physical CDs are quite often a bit cheaper. And for the sake of getting lossless quality, I will usually go for that option.
Absolutely. It's also much tidier should you wish to play the CD in the lounge, just chuck the disc into the CD/DVD player and hit "play" rather than having 3.5mm leads draped about the place.
The downside, is you end up like me with a couple hundred CDs, the vast majority of which just sit on the shelf and gather dust, and of course unlike vinyl they'll never be considered "classics".
I’m not disagreeing with you, but your link *doesn’t* say that it is exempt from GST, just that the service is provided by an australian registered company, which may or may not mean it is GST exempt
I can find no official stuff from iTunes or IRD specifically stating it is GST exempt, but several things direct from iTunes themselves (as linked above) that clearly state NZ pricing is inclusive of GST.
I mean, if it were that easy to avoid GST then it stands to reason that iTunes would setup a separate office over here to supply to Australia and avoid australian GST that way (supply to NZ from australia, supply to Australia from NZ. Heck, why not supply to the UK from the USA too, avoid VAT!
Another clue that it's GST exempt is if you buy something expensive on the Mac App Store - the invoice they issue you is not a valid tax invoice under New Zealand law, and does not contain the amount of tax paid - if Apple is charging and paying GST, they are violating the Goods and Services Tax Act by issuing invalid invoices for purchases over $50. And I doubt Apple's stupid enough to deliberately break tax law of all things.
As a side note, it actually is that easy to avoid GST. However, there's no point - the GST is charged to the end user, not to you, so there's no benefit in it. More than likely, they just supply out of Aussie because it's easier for them as they have no real local presence.
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