Australian GST for Online purchases

[ahmo]

This might be hopelessly naive...I'm wondering if we have any ability to lobby against proposed online charges of GST. The exchange rate has plunged, it's likely GST will increase, and now proposals are to have it applied to any online purchases over $40. My concern is about ordering supplements. There are many things I get on iherb that are just not available in Aus. Others where the price, even with terrible exchange rate, is so much better that I'm pushed to order from US. I've spent hours looking for comparable things in Aus, and have been successful in only a few instances.

Is there any way, anyone, we can lobby for exceptions to the probable legislation? Hard to imagine, since our illness is unrecognized, supplements are considered suspicious, or worse, compared to pharma.

 

[AndyPandy]

Here are a few suggestions for lobbying:

Emerge
The Federal Treasurer and the opposition shadow minister
The Federal Finance Minister and the opposition shadow minister
The Federal Health Minister and the opposition shadow minister
Your local Federal MP
A petition on change.org

 

[Sea]

This might be hopelessly naive...I'm wondering if we have any ability to lobby against proposed online charges of GST. The exchange rate has plunged, it's likely GST will increase, and now proposals are to have it applied to any online purchases over $40. My concern is about ordering supplements. There are many things I get on iherb that are just not available in Aus. Others where the price, even with terrible exchange rate, is so much better that I'm pushed to order from US. I've spent hours looking for comparable things in Aus, and have been successful in only a few instances.

Is there any way, anyone, we can lobby for exceptions to the probable legislation? Hard to imagine, since our illness is unrecognized, supplements are considered suspicious, or worse, compared to pharma.

That sounds like a nightmare for administration. Will the Australian government actually expect foreign companies to collect and pay them the GST? How do they plan to enforce that?

 

[ahmo]

That sounds like a nightmare for administration. Will the Australian government actually expect foreign companies to collect and pay them the GST? How do they plan to enforce that?

Don't know. I do know that iherb has a very close Aus relationship, offering AusPost for shipping, Aus$ in calculating totals.

 

[alex3619]

That sounds like a nightmare for administration. Will the Australian government actually expect foreign companies to collect and pay them the GST? How do they plan to enforce that?

In the UK its done through the post office I think. You have to pay the tax to get your parcel.

 

[alex3619]

I think its more likely they will put an impost on the banks to put the tax on our credit cards. Then the banks will charge us more to cover their own costs.

Of course such charges are anti-free trade. So which is it to be, protectionism or free trade? The companies selling the goods already have taxes in the country of origin. So you get taxed twice.

The real issue is that many companies here just cannot compete as they charge too much, or they do not have adequate web sites. Many of the web sites of our big retail companies suck.

This seems to be about protecting excessive profit in failing business. Or protectionism.