Thread: The New - Amazon Tax - comments and future facts for us

Originally Posted by square1

Retailers in NZ don't always have what I want to buy, most of what I buy from overseas is because that's the only place I can get it. They aren't even in a position to be competitive on pricing because their range is unappealing.

Yes - NZ population is not big enough for them to take a punt on a "larger" variety/styles of products etc
What might be popular today is old hat next month and if you bring to much stock of an item that losses flavor - your are at a loss

But - Retail is doomed - I meaning small non corporate Retail
This will not help - its to late, even adding in GST etc on most items sourced from overseas - those items will still be cheaper and they arrive at you door without hassles of Street shopping/parking etc
And - as you rightly state - a much greater selection to choose from

Looking at their own advert there they say that by adding GST on the jacket and dropping the tariff that the jacket will now be cheaper. I call bull shit. How does dropping the tariffs and fees and adding gst make the system better for NZ? Dearer to run, and less income.

I dont get how dropping a tariff, adding GST and making the overall cost cheaper, will help. Most companies will simply refuse to add GST or become involved with the IRD and with such a small market the result will be they will simply stop selling in NZ. Many US companies have done this already. I would suggest an example would be Boyds stocks. They could easily sell their dearer stocks here. All they need to do is go through the bureaucracy of the export paperwork and fees imposed by their state department. They have decided this is too much hassle for small markets and simply decided the best business decision for them is to not sell these stocks and to not be tied up with the cost of the paperwork. I se the same thing with many of the offshore sellers. They will simply say the small amount of sales is not worth the hassle and put NZ on the do not ship there list.

i just ordered some electronic parts, delivered its going to cost me under $20 for 4 of them. in kiwiland $29 each

One of the most telling parts of the discussion document was when discussing cross border services tax (Netflix tax):
"it was estimated the government was foregoing approx $40m a year in revenue.......revenue from gst returns filed by offshore suppliers since the introduction of the rules (oct 16) totals $162m"
Im sure the discussion went something like "shit that went alright, what else can we do this to?"

....looks like we will have fewer overseas options willing to send to NZ - too much paperwork and any contract is between the purchaser/seller; now they have to act as a tax collection point for the NZ government...

Originally Posted by Nickoli

....looks like we will have fewer overseas options willing to send to NZ - too much paperwork and any contract is between the purchaser/seller; now they have to act as a tax collection point for the NZ government...

There is that. I've tried to order from a few overseas stores that don't even have NZ on their shipping drop down menus and emails have been ignored. We're just not worth the hassle I suppose.

Nash was claiming last night that they expect about 70% of overseas big retailers to agree to being unpaid tax collectors for the NZ Gov't.
The saying "Mate, he's dreamin' " comes to mind

The business only needs to collect it if they send more than $60,000 worth of goods to NZ, so for some smaller businesses it won't make any difference. The bigger businesses will do it if they want the business, look at what Kuiu did.

Originally Posted by stug

The business only needs to collect it if they send more than $60,000 worth of goods to NZ, so for some smaller businesses it won't make any difference. The bigger businesses will do it if they want the business, look at what Kuiu did.

I just caught the tail end of interview with Minister on Mike Hosking ZB Radio this morning
It sounds like items under $400 will pass through with nothing added here - as the GST will be collected and paid by overseas Seller

So - if for example you were to buy a pair of $300 boots - you will get them landed here for 345NZ$$ (and maybe some shipping)

But - under the present system you would have a 10% duty added - freight calculation added - so we up to lets say 340NZ$ and then a GST calculation on that would be $51
So with the the Duty and the GST added together - would mean they would pursue the collection as it is over their $60 trigger to collect
Then you would have Customs charges of approx $55NZ for Import Transaction & disbursement Fees added
So the item in total will end up costing an additional $135 approximately on top of the original online purchase cost

But - under the new system - the item will only cost you the $300 for item + $45 for GST and its shipping, which you will pay up front to the seller, and nothing more.
So you are way better off - and Retailers will be further down and out

Maybe I have not got it right ??

Originally Posted by Sarvo

I just caught the tail end of interview with Minister on Mike Hosking ZB Radio this morning
It sounds like items under $400 will pass through with nothing added here - as the GST will be collected and paid by overseas Seller

So - if for example you were to buy a pair of $300 boots - you will get them landed here for 345NZ$$ (and maybe some shipping)

But - under the present system you would have a 10% duty added - freight calculation added - so we up to lets say 340NZ$ and then a GST calculation on that would be $51
So with the the Duty and the GST added together - would mean they would pursue the collection as it is over their $60 trigger to collect
Then you would have Customs charges of approx $55NZ for Import Transaction & disbursement Fees added
So the item in total will end up costing an additional $135 approximately on top of the original online purchase cost

But - under the new system - the item will only cost you the $300 for item + $45 for GST and its shipping, which you will pay up front to the seller, and nothing more.
So you are way better off - and Retailers will be further down and out

Maybe I have not got it right ??

You got it right - while there will be 15% on all items under $400, it will work out better for those items that previously fell into the magic band of under $400 in value but exceed $60 in fees (tarrifs +gst +bio fee + customs fee).

Originally Posted by stug

The business only needs to collect it if they send more than $60,000 worth of goods to NZ, so for some smaller businesses it won't make any difference. The bigger businesses will do it if they want the business, look at what Kuiu did.

Doesn't take much to hit the $60k turnover threshold - and the onus is being placed on businesses without a permanent establishment in NZ (a normal test for establishing tax liability in any jurisdiction) to determine whether they have an obligation to collect tax for little old NZ? There will be a few boutique businesses (and others) who will simply say "Nup, can't be bothered"

I don't mind paying an extra 15% if they dropped that stupid bio security levy fee!

Yes, that’s correct Sarvo. So in some cases we’ll be better off ��

Wait! What? You can buy stuff without going to a shop?

Yep @Rushy just a modern spin of the old days. Make a call and then by magic there's a temptress standing on your door step asking for a bed for an hour!