Move to make online buyers pay GST

[HQfiend]

There is a very simple and cost effective way to apply GST to anything bought offshore. Just take away the idea of collecting it at the border and add 15% to all foreign exchange transactions.

So you want the gobomint checking up on your paypal/bank accounts then? You would allow them access to your income both declared and undeclared?

[gammaguy]

Ebay was running a print advertising campaign in OZ before Christmas, the slogan read, "Browse it at Westfields, buy it on Ebay."


Now there was something very perverse about that, its that type of immoral shopper behavior that will see traditional retail and all of the jobs associated with it dissapear.

Sure buy online if you want but don't exploit the retailers that carry stock to reduce your risk of buying the wrong thing.

get real

as the price of oil,transport and so many other things increase,cities become more crowded and simply getting about becomes more of a hassle(especially in NZ with its largely non existent public transport system and big distances between major centres),,the sales of online purchases can only increase.


In the USA alone sales online were up 20% this christmas


Its your choice,either jump on board the train of progress,or get run over by it.

[NinjaNanna]

get real

as the price of oil,transport and so many other things increase,cities become more crowded and simply getting about becomes more of a hassle(especially in NZ with its largely non existent public transport system and big distances between major centres),,the sales of online purchases can only increase.


In the USA alone sales online were up 20% this christmas


Its your choice,either jump on board the train of progress,or get run over by it.

You totally missed the point. I wasn't saying don't buy online, I was saying don't exploit stock carrying retailers to physically view items, when your intention is to buy it online anyway.

[scumdog]

It can only be a matter of time before everything has GST added that comes into the country.

Hmmm..went overseas, bought a car while there and shipped it to NZ.

Had to pay GST on the purchase price (converted to NZ $)

And that was 5 years ago.

[scumdog]

There is a very simple and cost effective way to apply GST to anything bought offshore. Just take away the idea of collecting it at the border and add 15% to all foreign exchange transactions.

I've already found a way around that...

[Jantar]

So you want the gobomint checking up on your paypal/bank accounts then? You would allow them access to your income both declared and undeclared?

They already do.

However I'm not advocating such a change, just stating how simple it would be to implement. When you buy something from overseas and pay via Paypal, do you honestly believe that the exact money is imediately transferred in a single transaction from your bank account to theirs? Think about it for a moment. What happens is that the transaction is approved at both ends imediately and are taken from you account and paid to the sellers, but the funds don't actually move until the bankers make interbank settlements, usually at a set time each day. It is these interbank settlements that the government would have access to and be taxed. The bank would simply include the GST amount in the exchange rate they charge you.

As Scumdog has already commented, there is a way around that, and that is to hold overseas funds and pay from that source.

[p.dath]

So my question is, should it apply to goods, parts or materials that are not available in NZ to start with? What if you are restoring an American car and can only get parts from the states, or in my case an exhaust system that was never released here and is now obsolete?
Is that "fair" on the consumer or does it benefit NZ retailers?

GST is for goods or services that are "consumed" in NZ. Remember that very few goods are available in NZ until someone brings them into the country for sale.

There is a very simple and cost effective way to apply GST to anything bought offshore. Just take away the idea of collecting it at the border and add 15% to all foreign exchange transactions.

What about if you are transferring money between two of your own personal banks accounts, say here and Australia? That would mean you would loose 15% of your funds.

It needs to remain being done at the border.

[p.dath]

In an interesting twist, the NZ Government is proposing to increase the GST "free" threshold to $400 (like Australia currently is) from $250.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/4524...e-import-taxes

The change would make it cheaper for consumers to buy some items – such as shoes, clothes and jewellery valued at between $250 and $400 – from overseas websites. It would not affect the import of most items (including books and CDs) that are not subject to duty and for which the $400 threshold already applies.

Customs estimates the change would see an extra 22,000 items brought into the country tax-free each year and the Government forgoing about $2.2million in GST and duties.

[Coldrider]

In an interesting twist, the NZ Government is proposing to increase the GST "free" threshold to $400 (like Australia currently is) from $250.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/4524...e-import-taxes

the best part
Customs said import duties were becoming less common. It had looked into raising the GST and duty-free threshold to $650 or $1000 but said a $400 threshold was not low compared with many countries and was "appropriate".

Customs is due to report to Customs Minister Maurice Williamson and he would "decide what steps will be taken".

[Grasshopperus]

Ah, but the GST is of no consequence to the retailer, as the consumer pays the GST.

Supply and demand.

There is less demand at a higher price => less sales. This is a consequence that the retailer has to deal with

[avgas]

I reckon it could get messy.
Say your an importer - does this mean you pay 2 x GST?
Once when it comes into the country (similar to the old gate surcharge) and then again when its sold?

[p.dath]

I reckon it could get messy.
Say your an importer - does this mean you pay 2 x GST?
Once when it comes into the country (similar to the old gate surcharge) and then again when its sold?

No. The first time you pay, the second time you collect it on behalf of the Government, and pay it with your GST return.

[yachtie10]

There is an issue in all this

When someone else buys you a present overseas and sends it to you
Should GSt be paid and if so buy whom?

[imdying]

When someone else buys you a present overseas and sends it to you, should GST be paid, and if so, by whom?

If the sender is a NZ resident, then the sender should be paying it. If not, nobody should pay it.

/edit: Personal repsonse to the hypothetical question, not what actually happens as of this date

[p.dath]

There is an issue in all this

When someone else buys you a present overseas and sends it to you
Should GSt be paid and if so buy whom?

Currently GST is due if it is over the threshold, and the service/product is consumed in NZ.

The person doing the shipping can pay the GST in advance, otherwise the receiver has to pay before receiving the goods.


So it just depends if the person giving the present also wants to give you the GST.