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ARTICLE · 06 MARCH 2011

Online retail shopping - customs duty and import GST exemptions under attack

Cooper Grace Ward
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Australian retailers have recently campaigned for the government to remove the exemptions that allow certain imported goods to be exempt from customs duty and import GST.

AustraliaTax
Fletch Heinemann
Fletch Heinemann
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Australian retailers have recently campaigned for the government to remove the exemptions that allow certain imported goods to be exempt from customs duty and import GST.

Importing goods free of customs duty and import GST

Under the current rules, most consignments valued at less than $1,000 can be imported into Australia free of customs duty and import GST. The thresholds are different for tobacco and alcohol, unaccompanied personal effects, and goods brought into Australia as part of passengers' luggage.

Australian retailers are complaining that the exemptions allow online retail sellers to benefit from an unfair (untaxed) playing field where goods are shipped directly from overseas suppliers to Australian customers.

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