eBay threatens to block Australian buyers from offshore sellers
18 Apr 2017
eBay has threatened to stop Australian buyers from doing business with offshore sellers if the government were to push ahead with a plan to charge local sales taxes on imported goods.
Australia levies a goods and services tax (GST) at a rate of 10 per cent, collected at the point of sale. The tax, however, is not applied to imports valued at under A$1,000, which local retailers claim allowed offshore retailers to undercut them.
According to a 2011 inquiry charging GST on imported items valued at less than $1,000 would cost more money than it would raise, but Australia was pushing ahead with a plan to collect GST on imports from July 1st 2017.
An inquiry into the plan is due to be announced later this week. Meanwhile, the proposal had already drawn submissions ahead of hearings.
eBay said in its submission ''Regrettably, the Government's legislation may force eBay to prevent Australians from buying from foreign sellers.'' According to the company, it was unfair that it did all the heavy lifting so that third-party sellers using its platform could collect GST.
The new laws, which would come into effect from 1 July, would require overseas businesses with an annual turnover of $75,000 or more to register with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to collect GST on all goods sold, including purchases under the current low-value threshold of $1,000.
According to treasurer Scott Morrison, the changes were about ensuring Australian businesses ''do not continue to be unfairly disadvantaged by the current GST exemption that applies to imports of low-value goods''.
Major retailers including Harvey Norman and Premier Investments had lobbied hard for the change, saying it would level the playing field against the likes of Amazon, Asos and eBay.
