Australian shop owners must wonder whose side the tax office is on. The people offering us goods online do not have to charge that ten percent GST.
One of the loopholes in the Australian tax code allows no GST to be charged on purchases up to one thousand dollars - provided that purchase is made outside this country.
There is no doubt that when you shop online the transaction meets that criteria.
Not only is a vast amount of money lost by the government, but the very people providing goods and services within the Australian community are trading at a grossly unfair disadvantage. All the plethora of charges and taxes that go with running a shop are levelled against them - while the online traders get a free run.
It seems that this is a case of old laws being outstripped by the advances in computer technology. When this law came into force the intent was to protect Australian travellers returning to this country with the items they had purchased on holiday.
Online trading developed into big business - and nobody thought to bring the tax laws up to date.
Surely this should he high on the list of things to do !
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