Ranting about NZ retailers

[FastFred]

SS90 one way you may be getting confused is that NZ customs GST is not calculated "live" Its called customs gst for that very reason.

But wouldn't he know that ... As he tells us, that he has years of importing experience, even I could figure out the basics, so something about his story is not adding up

I imported bikes into NZ for some years.

[Robert Taylor]

1) the first part of your statement has some truth in it, but the cost of doing business is not the whole reason. Not even the major part of the reason. Its the whyfores and wherefores of the way you are doing business. I guess a business like yours which relies on demand for a non essential/luxury imported item will always struggle when times are tough for your potential customers. You are in the same boat as most importers of non essential goods.

2) I guess its true in your mind, thats why you keep saying it.

3) One of the best drivers for domestic employment is a lower exchange rate.
But that would push you even closer to the wall.
But kiwi jobs would benefit.
What to do? how do I have my cake and eat it as well?
At least you would be sending less money offshore to support workers in Sweden, Japan, China, America, and instead that money would stay here and support Kiwi workers.
Which is what you want, isnt it?


fixed it for ya

1) You assume we are struggling, actually we are not. People with disposable income still have disposable income in a recession. It is those on lower incomes who struggle more, unless I am missing something?
What I will say is we are working bloody hard for the turnover we have got, good honest hard work

2) Yes and I am sticking to it, as will others who can see the big picture and all of the very real negatives that this open slather is creating for our own people

3) I am in fact in favour of a weaker Kiwi dollar and a much stronger $US. We are or damn well should be primarily an exporting nation and people have to get over self interest. BTW we are not even close to the wall, but Im concerned about everyday people having meaningful employment and prospects .

Its easy to twist arguments which you attempted to do in your last paragraph. We dont have a large scale suspension manufacturing industry and you know it. You also ( along with others ) know only too damn well where I am coming from but just choose to be argumentative.

[Robert Taylor]

Total agreement. Fiddling with GSt etc isnt going to save anyone. There has to be a fundamental change in the way people do business, taking into account modern technologies.

In NZ we already have one of the lowest business compliance cost regimes in the western world (despite RT )
GST is one of the simplest consumer taxes in the world

My way of looking at it, if your business isnt working, first place to look is in the mirror.
Ask yourself why I am doing this?
Many business's fail in NZ because a pragmatic business approach is overshadowed by the ego of the owner. They will run it till there is nothing left, blame all and sundry for their demise, except themselves of course.
On the other hand some business's flourish because of the owners ego, not too many though.

Basically if it isnt working and you cant make it work, do something else.

But if all you have left is blaming the govt, blaming people for not buying from you, blaming whoever, you are on your way to the crapper

Those of us that are in business and doing okay are mindful of very real discrepancies that exist, be it Government failure to collect gst on a greater volume of incomings, or a huge discrepancy in pricing. That one Im not even going to try and justify as its very complicated and others have explained some of the issues very well. But yes, effectively I do blame the Government for not collecting gst on imports that it could.

Yes it would be a logistical nightmare to get Customs to collect clearances and gst on EVERY import. But one proposal put forward is to get banks to act as clearance and gst collectors on every overseas money transaction. They would protest about that but an act of Parliament would enforce it. In Australia they are considering lowering the threshold to $30.
Clearly the tax take is also being very negatively impacted upon by so much offshore purchasing that in turn doesnt attract customs interest. That is an issue that Government needs to address.

[Headbanger]

You also ( along with others ) know only too damn well where I am coming from but just choose to be argumentative.

From what I gather you consider that no man should be allowed to seek value for money or make a purchase within their budget if it means you and the government miss out on your cut, and that a change of law, no matter at what cost to the man on the street is required to ensure you get yours.

Furthermore, This isn't because you are struggling as apparently your business model is recession proof, so it must just be about greed.


Well, You have convinced me.

[Robert Taylor]

From what I gather you consider that no man should be allowed to seek value for money or make a purchase within their budget if it means you and the government miss out on your cut, and that a change of law, no matter at what cost to the man on the street is required to ensure you get yours.

Furthermore, This isn't because you are struggling as apparently your business model is recession proof, so it must just be about greed.


Well, You have convinced me.

?????????????????????????????????????????????????? ????????? You dont get it. And I guess you want all the social services in the world when the Government is struggling for tax take?

Why do so many think that business and greed are synonomous with one another? Like many or most small businesses we make a fair and reasonable profit, nothing more, yes of course the recession hurts but we just work harder.

Im all for an even playing field when it comes to tax take on imports, any reasonable person would accept that.

[brp]

Why do so many think that business and greed are synonomous with one another? Like many or most small businesses we make a fair and reasonable profit, nothing more, yes of course the recession hurts but we just work harder.

If there was no money in it for you having your own business wouldn't you be a fool for doing so ?
I use to import products from China - one example NZ$10 each - hock them on tardme for $250 - kiwis still thought they were getting a bargin because NZ retailers had been ripping them off for more for years - the real rub these days with NZ retailers is the monopoly is over and turnover with it, with the ease of being able to buy overseas.

So called supercheap said they could get me a hiflow oil filter in for $20, went on flebay and got 3 delivered to my door from the USA for NZ$20 lollolloll

[Headbanger]

?????????????????????????????????????????????????? ????????? You dont get it. And I guess you want all the social services in the world when the Government is struggling for tax take?

Why do so many think that business and greed are synonomous with one another? Like many or most small businesses we make a fair and reasonable profit, nothing more, yes of course the recession hurts but we just work harder.

Im all for an even playing field when it comes to tax take on imports, any reasonable person would accept that.

Rob, Are you on the crack pipe?

[PeeJay]

Those of us that are in business and doing okay are mindful of very real discrepancies that exist, be it Government failure to collect gst on a greater volume of incomings, or a huge discrepancy in pricing. That one Im not even going to try and justify as its very complicated and others have explained some of the issues very well. But yes, effectively I do blame the Government for not collecting gst on imports that it could.

Yes it would be a logistical nightmare to get Customs to collect clearances and gst on EVERY import. But one proposal put forward is to get banks to act as clearance and gst collectors on every overseas money transaction. They would protest about that but an act of Parliament would enforce it. In Australia they are considering lowering the threshold to $30.
Clearly the tax take is also being very negatively impacted upon by so much offshore purchasing that in turn doesnt attract customs interest. That is an issue that Government needs to address.

I am glad your business is going so well. I guess the moral hgh ground takes a back seat to $$$

You are a bit behind the timeline with your $30 in Aussie

Heres what the Aussies came up with after all the bleating and moaning from their retailers.
Cant imagine our conclusions would much different. Just substitute NZ for Aust and you will get the idea

Approximately 55 million international parcels arrive in Australia under the $1,000 threshold. The Commission estimates that with current processes, if the low value threshold was abolished, about $578 million of revenue would be collected and over $2 billion of collection costs would be borne by businesses, consumers and government. These costs are a deadweight loss on the community, the Commission said.

The Productivity Commission said that reducing the threshold to $100 would raise an additional $472 million, but, based on the current customs processing charges, this would cost consumers and businesses approximately $715 million.

Effectively, with extra costs to couriers, etc included, the Commission said it may cost the community over $1 billion to facilitate the collection of $472 million in revenue. It concluded that any reduction to the threshold could not be implemented in the short-term "without very significant cost impacts".

The Assistant Treasurer said the Draft Report identified that, if the Government was to abolish the GST exemption on goods purchased from overseas, this would cost the taxpayer $1.6 billion to collect the tax that would raise approximately $500 million. So, for every dollar of tax raised, at this stage with the current technology in place, he said it would cost the taxpayer three times as much to collect GST on items below $1,000.

Shorten said there was "no way you can sell that to the Australian people even though we do support, as a general principle, the general idea of tax neutrality, that the tax should be the same on all items". He said the idea that taxpayers would spend three times more to collect the tax was "just plain crazy".

For a number of reasons, the Commission said it was of the view that the exemption from payment of GST and customs duty on goods valued at less than $1,000 is not the main factor affecting the international competitiveness of Australian retailers. Other relevant factors included:
The current large difference between domestic and foreign retail prices for many goods purchased online.
Some consumers shop online offshore because they can't obtain the goods they require locally.
The cost of freight on individual items is comparatively high.
The willingness of Australian consumers to pay a small premium (some have suggested 20%) for the security of purchasing from an Australian supplier.

This should get you spinning

Customs Minister Maurice Williamson had asked Customs to review the $400 threshold, he said. "Although the Government recognises the concerns of retailers, it is also worth noting that there are competing interests in this area between those that want the threshold lowered and those that want it raised to align with that of Australia, which currently has a threshold of A$1000 (NZ$1270)."

So, NZ's tax free threshold may go up to $1200 to align us with Aussie. CER and all that.

Then the moaning and bleating can really start

[Bassmatt]

I am glad your business is going so well. I guess the moral hgh ground takes a back seat to $$$

Heres what the Aussies came up with after all the bleating and moaning from their retailers.
Cant imagine our conclusions would much different. Just substitute NZ for Aust and you will get the idea

This should get you spinning .....

[PeeJay]

We dont have a large scale suspension manufacturing industry and you know it.

And why is that?
Easily fixed if the govt got off its chuff
A duty which will make it uneconomical to import suspension
You or someone else with a few mil laying around, hey the govt could do it, start a joint venture with ohlins/showa or maybe go it alone, build a manufacturing plant in NZ, employ kiwi workers, use kiwi raw materials, and supply shocks for both domestic and export.
Wouldnt that be great.
Just what you wanted, no more imports killing kiwi jobs, domestic manufacturing creating kiwi jobs,
wont be long utopia

[mikeey01]

I have and will always support local over overseas business anyday!

Some support racing, some support off road events and most, well they keep us kiwis in a job.
For the sake of a few dollars more, why would I not want to.

[Robert Taylor]

Rob, Are you on the crack pipe?

Dont get me started on illegal mind altering substances................

[Robert Taylor]

I have and will always support local over overseas business anyday!

Some support racing, some support off road events and most, well they keep us kiwis in a job.
For the sake of a few dollars more, why would I not want to.

Small NZ businesses are the major employer of people in NZ. To meet the new realities they have to trim margins to often unsustainable levels. Where do the displaced people go who lose their jobs as a result of belt tightening? Do people like ( for example ) Headbanger and Peejay even care about the social cost?

[SS90]

Do people like ( for example ) Headbanger and Peejay even care about the social cost?

To their credit, it's not their fault, it's the society of knockers that most countries have.

The simple answer is always the same, NZ has 4.5 million people, Australia has more than that riding bikes.

Does that put it into perspective.?

[bogan]

Small NZ businesses are the major employer of people in NZ. To meet the new realities they have to trim margins to often unsustainable levels. Where do the displaced people go who lose their jobs as a result of belt tightening? Do people like ( for example ) Headbanger and Peejay even care about the social cost?

Lets go back 10-15 years to the time before internet shopping then?



Oh wait, thats no better.

Most people are capable of upskilling, and a skilled workforce is going to bring in more money than an unskilled one.

Your doom and gloom prophecies about internet buying ruining NZ business and tax take just don't stack up with the figures.