Hi there. I am planning to buy a new Macbook/PC laptop next week. I will leave Melbourne to the USA for a short holiday…If i claim the tax refund for my Macbook, when I return back to Melb, can i just skip the declaration for my laptop?
TRS: Do I need to report back my tax claimed MacBook when coming in Melbourne?
groundum on 27/12/2013 - 22:55
Last edited 29/12/2013 - 17:13
Last edited 29/12/2013 - 17:13
Comments
false information mate, electronics do not all depreciate at the same rate and where did you get that depreciation rate from for laptops? a bit aggressive and pretty sure its not true.
100% correct information. Jewellery and antiques etc do not depreciate, but electronics do. At the rate I said.
mate I'm a tax accountant, different electronics have a different effective life (depreciating life). If you look at the Commissioners rulingTR 2013/1 it will state the life of the said electronic depreciating asset. Laptops have a 3 year effective life. You may choose to use straight line depreciation method or diminishing value method to depreciate your asset. Both of which will not get you 20% depreciation in 3 months. Are you telling me you can depreciate a laptop by 80% in a financial year? like i said don't talk smack, teach people the right thing. pwneedd
Mate, I'm sitting right next to a Customs Officer. From Melbourne. pwneedd.
Go ahead, wave your fancy tax consultant credentials wherever you like, but I say do it in front of a Customs Officer and see what they say. Then come back and say I was right.
You might sell your macbook overseas and find an identical one at a night market for a fraction of the price.
Things happen…
I declared my rmbp and the guy just let me through, even though I paid $1664 for it.
If it is in excess of the duty free allowance, declare it. They already know that you took it out and will be bringing it back in. It is likely that you will be flagged by their system.
So say my laptop is $1000 and the duty free concession is $900, will they charge GST based on the full $1000 value? or just the $100 in excess?
If you declare it, then just the difference (10% GST on $100 in your example).
Incorrect, once you exceed your concession you forfeit all of it.
If you fail to declare it, then yes. Otherwise what is your source for this information please?
I bought a Vaio ($1400) and took it overseas…used it heaps and when I brought it back in, it was looking pretty scruffy and I didn't declare it…didn't get checked…but if they'd looked at it…it definitely was well used and would not attract a good resale price, and my daughter ended up putting stickers on it to hide the worst scratches. I was not travelling with my family, but with a couple of mates…so if they'd pushed, we could have banded together to share duty free allowances between 3 of us anyway.
Yes you can share the duty free allowance. Anything in excess will be charged 10% gst. And for small amounts, Customs will probably not bother with the paperwork, and just wave you through. People need to ask themselves "Is it worth it?"
I don't understand why the need to re-declare things like laptop back to Australia.
Those goods are paid for as personal effects and so when returned to Australia, it stays as personal effect and thus I think there is no need to declare.
Nothing to do with personal effect just that you got it tax free on leaving so if you bring it back you are liable for the tax as the concession is for travelers who don't return.
But if you read the signs and understand the scheme as a whole, it is designed for TOURISTS (Tourist Refund Scheme) to purchase goods here and get GST back, It is not designed for Aus citizens or residents to exploit.
I like your response except if that is really the case, then eligibility for refund up to 60days from day of departure should not be applied for people buying return tickets…
Who's to say the goods won't be given to somebody overseas? Or someone else brings it back? What customs only cares about is whether the goods return. Checking whether a person is coming back is too hard especially with e-tickets these days.
Also you realise there is in fact a $900 concession per adult that resident travelers get, a perk if you like? Is customs supposed to work out at time of departure whether the concession has been exceeded?
people travelling overseas are eligible for the concession when returning. However if it exceeds your duty free allowance of you and those accompanying you, including all goods that you and they bought and claimed trs on and goods purchased overseas, then you should declare that you exceed your concession. You then might have to pay GST on the amount of cost of goods exceeding your duty free concession(s). Pretty straight forward.
I am very interested with this so forgive me if this may sound like a basic question.
If I buy a Canon Camera over $1k and went to Singapore, claimed TRS, and returned. According to your post, I should re-declare and pay GST. That sounds straightforward. However, do they keep record of this to be checked on my way back?
If I instead bring a Canon Camera (worth over $1k) to Singapore (not claiming TRS) and returned, what is stopping CUstom to accuse me I have goods over $1k?
Thanks in advance.
Yes you are correct. You should keep receipts, and trs records. They have access to their computer records. Anyone taking something that looks/is new, should take receipts. If you are leaving Australia and have bought something in Australia that you are worried about, you can go to the customs enquiry counter before going out through immigration and get them to verify and document that you are exporting the goods. Then when you reimport it there will be no problem (unless you have claimed TRS on it in excess of your duty free allowance)
Very interesting insight! Thank you… never thought about this before.
PS: It looks like the keyword is "something that appears new or is new"…. hmmmm
Buggered if I can work it out…..mate got me a $4K Vaio Laptop from Hong Kong…walked up to AU Customs and declared it and told walk on thru…..never used…..he even questioned customs when initially told walk on thru….go figure…receipt was in HK dollars not sure if that helped.
Each adult has a $900 concession, each child $450. Pool all the concessions together with everyone you are travelling with.
Electronics depreciate at 20% value every three months, so minus that off the value.
If you are over, declare, if under don't declare.
Mate claimed on Mac and didn't declare. Got searched and he had to pay the tax back, then it was doubled as a penalty.