Parliament passes legislation to impose GST on low-value online imports

Federal parliament has enacted legislation to impose a 10% GST on low-value imports purchased from online overseas sellers from 1 July 2018.

As previously reported by Books+Publishing, the government first announced its intention to repeal the $1000 GST-free threshold on online imports in 2015. The Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) has long campaigned on the issue and advocated a zero threshold on overseas purchases.

In June, the government announced it would delay its plan to repeal the $1000 GST-free threshold for online purchases from overseas retailers from 1 July this year to 1 July 2018.

Vendors with less than $75,000 turnover are exempt from collecting GST. The Productivity Commission will undertake a review of the new law and report to the federal government by 31 October 2017. The law’s commencement isn’t dependent on the findings.

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Category: Local news