Selling across the ditch - GST on low value goods

Do you sell goods to Australia? If so, you may be affected by new Australian tax rules. At present, goods valued under AUD$1,000 do not generally have Australian GST applied to them where they are sold into Australia directly to the end customer. However new rules will now apply from 1 July 2017 to impose Australian GST on goods valued at $1,000 or less (‘low value goods’), where the supplier’s GST turnover (on low value goods sold into Australia) in a given year exceeds the threshold ($75,000 for most entities and $150,000 for non-profit bodies).

If this sounds like a slice of your business, you will be required to register for Australian GST, charging Australian GST (currently 10%) and remitting it to the Australian tax system. This applies whether your customers purchase goods from you online, over the phone or in person in a retail outlet here where your business ships the goods over to Australia. It applies whether the goods are physically here in New Zealand or sourced elsewhere overseas.

For New Zealand businesses exporting low value goods to Australia, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is talking about a GST registration process whereby you elect to be a ‘limited registration entity’ and return GST that way.

Along with registering for GST, you will need to look at how your software and record systems are set up and rethink your pricing and marketing.

The Bill hasn’t been passed yet but it looks as if it will. So if you sell low value goods to Australia and your GST turnover of low value goods sold into Australia is over or close to $75,000, please contact us to talk about how this might affect your business.