TRS and Returning to OZ

letmethefuqin on 15/09/2015 - 21:23
Last edited 16/09/2015 - 01:09

Trying to get my hands on a Nikon D610 DSLR, noticed Nikon has a $150 cash back on this.
I am about to fly out of the country for a week, is there a way I can double dip and take the receipt vis TRS and get more money back?
I live in Australia, and am leaving for a holiday and returning back to Australia

Edit: There seems to be a a bit of confusion in my question (I didn't explain it clearly enough)
I am questioning about getting the GST back on a $1900ish purchase. Please ignore my comment about the cashback

Travel

Comments

  • modsec802 on 15/09/2015 - 21:39

    Don't see why not. You'll save an amazing $13

    • illumination on 15/09/2015 - 23:47

      Come on we don't judge here, even for a $1 saving.
      Having said that, the saving will not be $13 because as is mentioned below, the receipt will not include the cashback. Therefore the claim will be on a receipt of at least $300+ (as per TRS rules) and the saving will in fact be at least $27.27.

  • ozhunter on 15/09/2015 - 21:40
    +2

    Huh?

    You'd get the GST back on the price you paid. The receipt wouldn't include the cashback.

  • [Deactivated] on 15/09/2015 - 22:05

    Sorry to hijack your post OP … but I have a related question: could someone claim TRS on their wedding dress, if they are getting married overseas? Can they still bring the dress back in the country afterwards? Ta

    • wolffram on 15/09/2015 - 22:22
      +5

      You can claim the TRS on anything you can physically carry with you out of the country, including clothing, up to your limit which is $1000 per adult. You can bring the dress back. As with any TRS claimed goods that you bring back into the country, you do run the risk of paying back the GST if caught. This actually happened to my mum years ago with a video camera she claimed then brought back at the end of her trip. She had to pay the GST back plus a fine, so essentially double the GST.

      • ozhunter on 15/09/2015 - 22:43

        It's $900/adult.

      • spal on 16/09/2015 - 04:53
        +2

        I think a wedding dress is a bit different though. There is no customs duty on personal use items including clothes and toiletries. So I believe you will get GST refund on the way out and no tax is payable on the way back. Best is to call the customs.

        • 2jzzzz on 16/09/2015 - 06:43

          Of course there is duty payable on personal items. Mobile phones, bags, cameras are all personal items and they all have to repay it.

          As said above, the finefor not declaring is pay what you got back, then it is double or anywhere up to 4 x the original cash back amount.

        • [Deactivated] on 16/09/2015 - 07:00

          @2jzzzz: so not worth it.

        • tomleonhart on 16/09/2015 - 08:56

          @Jar Jar Binks: 2jzzzz is right. However who can determine how much your wedding dress costs ? As far as I know i can get one made in South East Asia for 200 bucks.

        • toniyellow on 16/09/2015 - 10:52

          @2jzzzz:

          There are a number of 'person items' exempt from duty - personal clothing and footwear (excluding fur apparel), personal hygiene items, and items owned and used overseas for 12 months or more.

          http://www.border.gov.au/EnteringorleavingAustralia/Document… (p20)

          So in the wedding dress scenario, you might be ok. It is clothing.

          In the camera scenario, unless you use it overseas for 12 months, duty would be payable on the way back in.

        • 2jzzzz on 16/09/2015 - 15:23

          @toniyellow:

          PG 20 also says Goods entering Australia may be subject to Customs
          Duty and Goods and Services Tax (duty and tax). Most
          personal items (see Personal goods section) may be
          brought into Australia in your accompanied baggage,
          free from duty and tax. For other goods, limits apply.
          These include:
          • goods purchased overseas
          • goods purchased in Australia duty or tax free (that
          have been previously exported)
          • goods purchased from an inwards duty-free shop
          on arrival into Australia, or
          • goods for which a TRS claim has been made.

          So if you claim TRS on any goods and it comes back, no matter what it is, GST and duty is payable.

        • [Deactivated] on 17/09/2015 - 20:27

          @2jzzzz: So better not risk it? Also I'm a man: its not my wedding dress. Asking for a friend.

        • 2jzzzz on 18/09/2015 - 09:15

          @Jar Jar Binks:

          It's legal in other countries, no judgement haha.

        • [Deactivated] on 18/09/2015 - 09:27

          @2jzzzz:
          Forgot to mention that I'm also already married :-)

  • plmko on 15/09/2015 - 22:06

    The GST component through TRS has nothing to do with Nikon's promotions.

  • JetBombat on 15/09/2015 - 22:12
    +2

    You can claim TRS on GST portion, but if you get caught with the item on the way back you might get charged a fee (twice of GST).

  • DeafMutePretender on 15/09/2015 - 22:16

    I thought you were a top rated seller

  • wolffram on 15/09/2015 - 22:17

    Yes, I've done it on previous Nikon cash back offers. They are two mutually exclusive things. There is no connection so there is no problem. The Nikon promo just requires you to enter info via their website. You still keep the sales docket which you present to the TRS desk at the airport, (along with the camera of course).

  • Sunny84 on 15/09/2015 - 22:23

    https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Ente/Tour/Are-you-a-traveller

    I claimed a TRS refund for some goods that I now want to bring back into Australia. What do I need to know?

    • If you are aged 18 years or over, you can bring in up to A$900 worth of general goods into Australia duty-free
    • Penalties may apply if you don’t declare that you have goods in excess of your concession
    • 2jzzzz on 16/09/2015 - 06:44

      If the goods are over $900, you must declare them and pay whatever duty or tax is payable.

  • Randxyz123 on 15/09/2015 - 23:29
    +1

    Hi OP

    Thought I'd bring your attention to this
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/211343

  • illumination on 15/09/2015 - 23:49

    Hm wow didn't realise there was a "fine" for it. Thought you'd just have to pay whatever the tax you claimed back was back if you were caught bringing it back in.
    How do they normally catch you though? Just simply by being flagged as someone that claimed X items on the way out, therefore on the way back in you might be scanned and have the same item with you? What if it's the same product but technically different item (different serial number?)?

    • currentfad on 16/09/2015 - 00:40

      Dude I personally don't understand how these people are getting caught… It's most likely people who don't even go overseas and are just scaring you with words. Say I take an iPhone overseas and claim TRS on it. Please tell me how you're going to identify my iPhone as the one I claimed TRS on… lol. Maybe if I was stupid enough to keep it in original packaging.

      • bigticket on 16/09/2015 - 01:20
        +1

        To claim the TRS you need to provide a receipt. In your example, the details of the phone model, serial no. and EMEI no. are on file cross referenced to your passport. If you are searched through customs, your phone and any other items you claimed TRS will be on screen. Need I say more?

        • Davo1111 on 16/09/2015 - 04:17

          In your example, the details of the phone model, serial no. and EMEI no. are on file cross referenced to your passport.

          I havent TRS-d in a while, but they never wrote anything down. I suppose it depends on the value of the goods carrying across the border.

          I do remember on "border patrol" they flagged some asian womans passport, and caught her on the way back in wearing the 10k earings. Pretty sure she got the fine and the fees.

        • 2jzzzz on 16/09/2015 - 06:48
          +1

          @Davo1111:

          For phones and laptops, the IMEI and serial number is recorded, espcially more expensive things. The ATO has also instructed Border Force to check most Apple products as there is large scale fraud and the AFP is getting invloved big time (words from a mate in Border Force)

        • Davo1111 on 16/09/2015 - 14:31

          @2jzzzz: ta, i think I got thirty-something dollars in GST back, so it wasnt exactly a huge expense requiring serials to be recorded.

        • bigticket on 17/09/2015 - 11:00

          I don't know this for a fact, but I would assume that customs would scan your receipt and have it linked to your passport. There is no recording of data as such.
          Manual data entry of all the relevant items details would be too time consuming and I think customs can afford a scanner and attach the scanned image to your passport.

        • Davo1111 on 17/09/2015 - 19:51

          @bigticket: It really wouldn't be that difficult to write IPhone and the serial number. They really only need to search the big ticket items

  • morbo1980 on 16/09/2015 - 07:57

    I bought a D7100 last year before going overseas. I was able to claim the cashback from Nikon and GST on the purchase price on the invoice via TRS.

    The customs agent at the TRS counter told me that when coming back in to the country I can bring in $900. The camera cost more than that but as the camera is now "used" it would be on the deprecated value which would be under the threshold. Even if it wasn't I was travelling with my partner and you can pool your allowance so I would have been ok anyway.

    Didn't have any issues coming back into the country (wasn't even stopped for bag search).

  • meumax on 16/09/2015 - 08:24
    +4

    The easy way to avoid being caught when travelling with others is to give the item you claimed to someone else you're travelling with such as your spouse and then go through customs separately. The TRS refund is linked to your passport no. only.

    E.g claim on wedding ring. Customs guy: I see you claimed TRS on a $10k ring, did you bring it back? Me: no it was for my nephew overseas it costs more to buy diamond in their country. Meanwhile my wife sneaks the ring in by going through customs by herself. I personally used this trick to get some electronics through before. Was never asked about it but would have been able to honestly claim the item was not with me if asked.

    • 2jzzzz on 16/09/2015 - 08:51

      You're the guy they will fine 4 x the original amount, atively attempting to defraud the government and engage in tax fraud. Most likely be a prosecution and court date with criminal conviction. Say you bought a 11k diamond ring and got $1000 back. You would be made to pay it back, then an additional $4000 so $5000 all up. Then a court date, if on a visa, could be cancelled and criminal convistion recorded.

      How hard do you think it is to link people who bought tickets together, presented elsewhere together or sat next to each other on the plane…. If you think all that is worth a possible $1000, you're a special kind of stupid.

      • zappy32 on 16/09/2015 - 10:51

        Except he clearly said he did it and didn't get asked so it obviously worked…

        I'd say the would be a less than 25% chance they'd check so it's probably worth i apart from, you know, the moral side of it.

        • Max Power on 16/09/2015 - 12:53

          apart from, you know, the moral side of it

          You mean legal side of it.

    • Randxyz123 on 16/09/2015 - 12:35

      Was never asked about it but would have been able to honestly claim the item was not with me if asked.

      Do you know what the word "honest" means?

      I'm curious if they asked you "are you travelling alone" what would your response have been

      Hopefully you get caught next time or get a smarter customers officer.

  • 12Sydney34 on 18/09/2015 - 12:59

    Anyone knows how much tax we have to pay if we declare the item on coming back??
    Example:-
    Invoice amt: $1900
    GST amt: $190
    GST free threshold per person is $900

    $1900 - $900 = $1,000
    Tax to pay = 10% of $1,000??? or 10% of $1900??

    • Davo1111 on 18/09/2015 - 13:30

      Apparently that there is a processing fee too. It's quite amazing that they make it so difficult to understand. Why not make it clear so that people don't try and evade charges.

    • ozhunter on 18/09/2015 - 14:08

      Technically if it's not $900 or under, you don't any GST back at all.

    • 2jzzzz on 21/09/2015 - 17:05

      Once you go over your concession, you are no longer entitled to any concession. Therefore, you'd be charged on the full $1900.

      By the way, that's not how you work out GST…

  • 12Sydney34 on 18/09/2015 - 13:38

    Did a bit of searching…seems like paying the full TRS value back….

    http://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Ente/Tour/Are-you-a-traveller

    I claimed a TRS refund for some goods that I now want to bring back into Australia. What do I need to know?
    …
    …
    If the total value of the goods you are bringing in is greater than your Passenger Concession, including goods for which you have previously claimed a tax refund under TRS:

    you must declare all of these goods
for goods where you have previously claimed a tax refund under TRS, you will need to pay that refund back  <<<<<<< 
duty and tax will apply to all items of this type, not just goods over the limit of your passenger concession.

    Penalties may apply if you don’t declare that you have goods in excess of your concession.

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