No Myer for Westfield Woden after all

dungfungus said :

Why not exempt GST on all imports, irrespective of the amount? I would love to hear your take on why this cannot be done.

Main reason would be the billions of dollars revenue the government would lose. This shortfall would need to be made somewhere else either by increasing an existing tax(es) or creating a new tax(es).

There are varying factors why the Australian goods sell for 30-50% (sometimes more) more than the equivalent o/s product. Often there is a middleman here, a wholesaler or distributor, who buys direct from manufacturer (or sometimes another wholesaler) and adds their layer of profit before selling to the retailer. This could be overcome by retailers shoppoing around for different suppliers (either local or o/s) but sometimes small retailers don’t have the resources (staff and facilities) to do this and might be required to bulk buy a year’s worth of stock to get a decent price.

Then there are retailers who have shops in malls like Westfield Woden or Belconnen. Retailers are charged very high rents and I believe also have to pay a percentage of their turnover (not profit) to Westfield.

Also there is the cost of hiring staff which can be quite cost prohibitive when you add all the on-costs like public holiday loadings, superannuation, worker’s comp, sick/holiday/maternity/paternity leave. So to pay someone a wage of say $50K, the actual cost to the retailer can be over double that.

It’s obvious from comments on this thread that Australians don’t really care about the survival of Australian retailers.
This includes shoppers and governments, the former group loyal to the cheapest price and the latter entity preferring to embrace the multinationals (especially Europe/Scandinavia) which is a latent “cultural cringe”.
I saw on TV last night that two new German retail chains are opening in Australia following the highly successful Aldi model (another one that the ACT government cosseted to get them here).
I am wondering how all this will end. I guess most shopping will soon be done on-line and the huge Australian shopping precincts that can’t compete will simply close.
Anyone got any ideas on where things are going?

watto23 said :

dkNigs said :

dungfungus said :

JC said :

dungfungus said :

The GST was actually first mooted by Paul Keating but his Labor colleagues saw it as electoral poison and it was dumped as policy.
You need to use your spell-checker more often, the word is spelt Liberal not Liebral.

For what it is worth I actually support the GST and I reckon it was one of the best things that Honest John did whilst it was in power. I doesn’t matter who did or didn’t support it at the end of the day.

My core issue is your constant blame of Labor in every thread. Simple fact is the Liebrals introduced the GST, they didn’t see fit to charge GST on low value inports. Seven years later Labor got in power and for their 6 years didn’t change the policy either. Though I think they may have increased the threshold, though in real terms it stayed the same. Your Liebral mates have now been in power for 1 year and they too have not made any changes. Yet by your calculations and thinking it is all Labors fault.

Oh nothing wrong with my spell checker either, after Abbott got into power it changed the spelling of the part to better reflect their characters, which is a bunch of liers.

When the GST was introduced by the party that is always cleaning up Labor’s mess, the volume of low value imports was very small. The phenomenon called on-line retailing changed all that.
It is interesting to note that Customs have now computerised all large value import entries so all the paperwork is done before the sea container clears the port of departure. These are the shipments that are subject to GST; the same shipments that Gerry Harvey gets and on which GST is paid before the importer even received the container.
I am sure Customs can adapt their software to cater for the millions of under $1,000 purchases that are currently GST free. Australia needs this lost revenue and our retailers need a level playing field.

Right, because we’re all going to stop buying things overseas for 40-50% less because you want the government to charge us 10% GST? Australian retailers need to adapt, and if the current distribution chain is the problem, they need to start direct importing themselves and leave the distribution chain to starve.

And there is still a cost to collecting the money. The extra storage space, extra staff to deal with all of this. It won’t stop me shopping overseas. I don’t shop overseas to save 10% GST. Its never ever been the reason to buy overseas. So local retailers still lose out because people won’t buy locally. The money gained will barely cover the costs of collection. Also regardless of thresholds, if it was $100 and I’m buying a heap of electronic components from HK, I’ll buy $99 worth. Then if i need more put another order in for $99. This is no different to big corporations dodging tax, or the wealthy use tax concessions to make more money. When the GST limit is currently set is because it also mirrors the duty free allowance.

They can squeal all they like, but plenty of evidence of it being done properly and making money in Australia and those retailers get rewarded by the Australian public.

Exactly. If 10% savings was the only benefit to buying from overseas, then nobody would do it. The fact is the savings are often in the area of 30-50% depending on what it is you buy, plus there is the advantage of having a much larger selection to choose from. Even if GST was added to imports, I’d still be buying from overseas because it would still be cheaper.

I’ve tried repeatedly to buy locally because I’m impatient and would rather not have to wait for shipping. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve gone to a shop only to be told they don’t have the product in stock, and I’d have to wait a week. If I have to wait a week, I’ll just order from overseas and save the difference in price. Especially when the “service” I receive locally often leaves a lot to be desired.

Australian retailers on the whole are need a big shake up. For starters, “recommended retail price” doesn’t mean “just charge this price, and no less”. It’s a recommendation. Four shops in the Canberra centre all selling the same watch, for the exact same price. Price it 5-10% less the RRP and generate some ACTUAL competition. If they want people to buy locally they need to give us a good reason to. Currently, very, very few of them do.

I hope Mayor Rattenbury doesn’t see this and get any ideas about our council supporting Myer in Canberra.
https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/myer-development-deal-hobart-lord-010245823.html
Then again, they have given a lot of freebies to IKEA.

It may not be getting Myers, but Woden is getting Harry Hartog (mainly books, apparently) – so we’ll have to see how range and prices compare to the online alternatives.

On the broader, and now much-debated, question of GST on private imports, I hope that any changes to the current rules are clear and consistent. In the early days of the GST, I believe it was charged on anything over $500 (the $1000 figure came in later) and, in practice, it seemed to depend on whether an item came by air or sea as to whether it was caught in the net.

watto23 said :

dkNigs said :

dungfungus said :

JC said :

dungfungus said :

The GST was actually first mooted by Paul Keating but his Labor colleagues saw it as electoral poison and it was dumped as policy.
You need to use your spell-checker more often, the word is spelt Liberal not Liebral.

For what it is worth I actually support the GST and I reckon it was one of the best things that Honest John did whilst it was in power. I doesn’t matter who did or didn’t support it at the end of the day.

My core issue is your constant blame of Labor in every thread. Simple fact is the Liebrals introduced the GST, they didn’t see fit to charge GST on low value inports. Seven years later Labor got in power and for their 6 years didn’t change the policy either. Though I think they may have increased the threshold, though in real terms it stayed the same. Your Liebral mates have now been in power for 1 year and they too have not made any changes. Yet by your calculations and thinking it is all Labors fault.

Oh nothing wrong with my spell checker either, after Abbott got into power it changed the spelling of the part to better reflect their characters, which is a bunch of liers.

When the GST was introduced by the party that is always cleaning up Labor’s mess, the volume of low value imports was very small. The phenomenon called on-line retailing changed all that.
It is interesting to note that Customs have now computerised all large value import entries so all the paperwork is done before the sea container clears the port of departure. These are the shipments that are subject to GST; the same shipments that Gerry Harvey gets and on which GST is paid before the importer even received the container.
I am sure Customs can adapt their software to cater for the millions of under $1,000 purchases that are currently GST free. Australia needs this lost revenue and our retailers need a level playing field.

Right, because we’re all going to stop buying things overseas for 40-50% less because you want the government to charge us 10% GST? Australian retailers need to adapt, and if the current distribution chain is the problem, they need to start direct importing themselves and leave the distribution chain to starve.

And there is still a cost to collecting the money. The extra storage space, extra staff to deal with all of this. It won’t stop me shopping overseas. I don’t shop overseas to save 10% GST. Its never ever been the reason to buy overseas. So local retailers still lose out because people won’t buy locally. The money gained will barely cover the costs of collection. Also regardless of thresholds, if it was $100 and I’m buying a heap of electronic components from HK, I’ll buy $99 worth. Then if i need more put another order in for $99. This is no different to big corporations dodging tax, or the wealthy use tax concessions to make more money. When the GST limit is currently set is because it also mirrors the duty free allowance.

They can squeal all they like, but plenty of evidence of it being done properly and making money in Australia and those retailers get rewarded by the Australian public.

Of course there is a cost to collecting the GST where it is payable and this is where it is so unfair.
Why not exempt GST on all imports, irrespective of the amount? I would love to hear your take on why this cannot be done.
Also, you would be aware that most on-line purchases from overseas come by air-freight. Are you comfortable with the carbon footprint associated with this?
I can’t see the association with GST and the duty free allowance. I think you left a word out somewhere.
Finally, the way you attack “the wealthy” leads me to believe you are one of the entitlement cult and you are going to milk the GST free under $1,000 for all it is worth.
You realize of course that while you currently use the Australian retail price as a comparison to feel good about how much money you are saving, think again what you are going to compare prices to when Australian retailers cease to exist and you are forced to buy on-line, offshore.
We will see who gets screwed then.

dkNigs said :

dungfungus said :

JC said :

dungfungus said :

The GST was actually first mooted by Paul Keating but his Labor colleagues saw it as electoral poison and it was dumped as policy.
You need to use your spell-checker more often, the word is spelt Liberal not Liebral.

For what it is worth I actually support the GST and I reckon it was one of the best things that Honest John did whilst it was in power. I doesn’t matter who did or didn’t support it at the end of the day.

My core issue is your constant blame of Labor in every thread. Simple fact is the Liebrals introduced the GST, they didn’t see fit to charge GST on low value inports. Seven years later Labor got in power and for their 6 years didn’t change the policy either. Though I think they may have increased the threshold, though in real terms it stayed the same. Your Liebral mates have now been in power for 1 year and they too have not made any changes. Yet by your calculations and thinking it is all Labors fault.

Oh nothing wrong with my spell checker either, after Abbott got into power it changed the spelling of the part to better reflect their characters, which is a bunch of liers.

When the GST was introduced by the party that is always cleaning up Labor’s mess, the volume of low value imports was very small. The phenomenon called on-line retailing changed all that.
It is interesting to note that Customs have now computerised all large value import entries so all the paperwork is done before the sea container clears the port of departure. These are the shipments that are subject to GST; the same shipments that Gerry Harvey gets and on which GST is paid before the importer even received the container.
I am sure Customs can adapt their software to cater for the millions of under $1,000 purchases that are currently GST free. Australia needs this lost revenue and our retailers need a level playing field.

Right, because we’re all going to stop buying things overseas for 40-50% less because you want the government to charge us 10% GST? Australian retailers need to adapt, and if the current distribution chain is the problem, they need to start direct importing themselves and leave the distribution chain to starve.

And there is still a cost to collecting the money. The extra storage space, extra staff to deal with all of this. It won’t stop me shopping overseas. I don’t shop overseas to save 10% GST. Its never ever been the reason to buy overseas. So local retailers still lose out because people won’t buy locally. The money gained will barely cover the costs of collection. Also regardless of thresholds, if it was $100 and I’m buying a heap of electronic components from HK, I’ll buy $99 worth. Then if i need more put another order in for $99. This is no different to big corporations dodging tax, or the wealthy use tax concessions to make more money. When the GST limit is currently set is because it also mirrors the duty free allowance.

They can squeal all they like, but plenty of evidence of it being done properly and making money in Australia and those retailers get rewarded by the Australian public.