Hey everyone!
Just a query regarding GST claims.
I'll keep it short. I am planning to buy a MBP from the recent eBay Myer sale and claim TRS on it. When I am returning I will have another family member with me (not immediate family member so not falling under the $900 + $900 rule). My question: can I claim the MBP as a gift for her and bring it back in Australia without GST?
Bottom-line: I take goods out, she brings them back in on the same journey with me (as a gift), is GST payable?
RRP is 1900 and definitely over the 900 limit you are allowed to bring back in
It's actually a concession, not a hard limit, so you pay tax if over.
She could bring it in as a personal item and "gift" it to you. I suppose there is a small chance they'll check if it was previously exported and tell her she must re-export it later. Dunno.
its apple product. of course more than 900
Ah yes, I've forgotten what's it like to be a broke student. ;)
time changes.
long time ago students used to work double job and eat instant noodle.
now they queue to buy $1800 phone, partying till dawn and drive bmw
@dragonindespair: Yeah, I went to Monash Uni and if you saw the carpark, you'd think that the only attendees to the uni were investment analysts at Westpac with high yield vehicles that are meant to impress colleagues and clients.
@MathNerd: oh thats why you made comment about car i was little confused before. yeah man, its good to use parents money - or even if they work part time, i bet they dont care about saving, spend everything they have. their saving is their parents!
@dragonindespair: The car was referring to this, the classic OzB stitch-up! But you're right, when your parents are that loaded, there's no need to think about saving. Instead it's splurge, splurge, splurge, trying to one-up your friends in every aspect of life
@MathNerd: remember one girl friend told us why i need to save $? my parents money is my money - single child in the family.
lucky she didnt say "when my parents die" or we may have smacked her in public.
Just walk through custom separately. Assume she is bringing her MBP as her personal item.
"not immediate family member"
just get married first then you can get up to $1800
I remember there being strict requirements about how you purchase it, how you package it, etc for what you want to do.
Source?
This isn't like the old days, where things were packed in a bag that could only be opened by costoms. Nowadays, they don't care anymore. At Perth, they had not even manned the TRS desk, and I had to submit my claim by paper form without even showing the items! (not happy, because the claim I had prepared on the TRS app [which generates a QR code for their staff at the airport to scan) was rendered a waste of time)
In Japan they ask you to keep it in its packaging/bag
nobody checked anything when leaving japan though, they just said you can remove the dockets/receipts from your passport pages and put it in a little box on the counter to discard (essentially garbage)
TRS isn't strict however : https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Ente/Tour/Are-you-a-traveller , you can definitely open/wear/use it (and put it in checked in luggage though it says to get it sighted beforehand if you do check it in)
EDIT: Seems my knowledge is woefully out of date haha. Disregard previous comment.
I have never been asked to pay GST on good when returning to Australia, not even if I had claimed the GST when leaving. I have brought many laptops, phones, jewellery and cameras out of the country and back in. Nobody cares. As soon as it leaves the country, it isn't new anymore anyway. Don't bring the packaging, because they don't want to see it when claiming, and without it they can't tell if it's new or not.
This is my experience as well
This is my experience as well
This is my experience as well
You will only pay GST if you declare it on return. Imagine the amount of work and delays required to check every device or item on a person to see if they had a previous TRS claim for that device.
Even if they tried, it'd be impossible because iirc there's no unique identifier you report when claiming TRS, so it'd be impossible for customs to tell if the MBP being brought back is the same as the one previously claimed and taken overseas, unless you were dumb enough to keep it in its new packaging.
AS AN ASIDE THOUGH: I wonder if this would be a way to get free money - claim TRS, take goods out and bring back, get refund for full purchase price including GST. Profit the GST amount?!
(PS: Don't try this - you do have to report the invoice and the tax office will see you claimed the TRS on that specific invoice, but the GST was not paid by the vendor because you would've refunded it.)
There is a unique identifier on the MacBook though; the serial number or IMEI on an iPhone. Your invoice is also stamped as TRS processed.
@2jzzzz: Again, not actually recommending anyone do this…
The unique identifier isn't reported when you claim TRS so customs can't use it to track it (for the first point), and you can print out any number of unstamped copies of e-invoices these days.
This is my experience as well
This is my experience as well
As well, This is my experience
Experience my, this is as well.
This is my experience as well
This is my experience as well.
@OP, claiming it as Gift does not exempt it from being GST applicable. Whether you bring it in as a gift or business sample or commodity for sale, once it goes above AUD$1000 threshold (not $900, source: https://www.ato.gov.au/General/New-legislation/In-detail/Ind…) , GST applies. So in very unfortunate cases if you get busted by customs upon entry, pay the GST.
The $900 figure you mentioned is duty-free threshold, not GST-free threshold, though many (if not most) household items come into Australia on 0% duty rate. That is, if you happen to bring $950 worth of stuff into the country back and the stuff is subject to 5% duty, you'll still need to pay 5%*$950=$47.5 as duty (if you got busted) but you don't need to pay 10% GST.
Don't argue with customs that you had applied TRS before - because on the TRS application you've signed that you understand "you will need to repay the GST refund back on the goods you claimed under the TRS if you are bringing goods back into Australia for which you have already received a TRS refund".
I am taking the Macbook out and gifting it to a family member. If she brings it back while we travel on the same journey, I am technically not bringing it back?
You probably could argue that, not sure, I can see your point but the statement that you signed reads "you will need to repay the GST refund back on the goods you claimed under the TRS". So my interpretation would be as long as the same goods are coming back, the GST that was previously claimed back should be repaid. Or maybe we see it this way: you have gifted the Macbook to someone else so you are not bringing it back to the country and you don't need to pay GST. Then technically GST is still payable, but this time the $ value will go to the new owner because the value of goods exceed GST-free threshold for the new owner. All in all this is very unlikely to happen so you should be alright :)
the only time ive heard of anyone having to pay it back was a friend of friend who bought an obscenely expensive engagement ring, then flew to new zealand to get tax back and immediately returned. as in same day, within a few hours probably.
so he had some explaining to do
It does happen, I have been unlucky. I bought an Oris Aquis Depth Gauge Watch. From memory about 2k, so similar amount to a MBP. I also claimed a bunch of smaller stuff like gopro etc. When I got back they flagged me and went through my bag looking for the Oris. They let me off with the gst of the gopro stuff but made me pay back the GST on the watch, luckily they did not also fine me. I am the only one I know of who has had this happen to but it does happen.
I have done it tens of times. Just don't bring any packaging and put some stickers on it if you want to be safe. lol
scuff it up a bit to be safe
put on the floor jump on it - just like that famous travel suitcase advertising its hard casing.
Google eBay decal MacBook pro stick it on the way back to Australia
I don't understand, why don't you use your own $900 allowance? Or are you saying the MBP costs more than $900?