Tourist Refund Scheme - Transport Tickets?

• 

  h4lcyon on 03/01/2012 - 16:33

  I thought it only applied to physical goods as per point 3.

  You could ring them and ask?

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  [Deactivated] on 03/01/2012 - 16:36

  +1

  I dont think so - its a service - thats not covered…

  • 

    grasstown on 03/01/2012 - 18:52

    couldnt he say he collects unused tickets? thus not a service

    • 

      [Deactivated] on 03/01/2012 - 20:20

      +2

      Your dealing with bureaucrats, no amount of "logic" like this would ever work.

      Time is money and in this case its going to take a lot of convincing.

      On their website they say the following as well

      Goods/purchases that do not attract refunds under the TRS

      The following goods are excluded from the scheme:

      • alcohol such as beer and spirits (travellers can buy wine and wine products under the TRS) and tobacco products (these goods can be purchased from duty-free shops)
      • GST-free goods-no refund can be claimed if no GST was paid
      • consumables wholly or partially consumed in Australia
      • goods which are prohibited on aircraft or ships for safety reasons. These include items such as gas cylinders, fireworks and aerosol sprays (all airlines provide information to passengers on prohibited items)
      • goods which fail to meet airline cabin-size and ship hand luggage restrictions
      • unaccompanied goods (including freighted or posted goods)
      • services such as accommodation, tours and car rental and labour charges
      • goods purchased over the Internet and imported into Australia
      • gift cards/vouchers (although goods purchased with gift cards/vouchers are eligible for a refund subject to all TRS requirements being met)

      Ticket = Voucher for a Service rather than a good.

      So the 7th bullet and the 9th bullet would combine for a double no. If I could lay a bet I'd take it on the no…

      And then has the product not be consumed already. My recall is that train stations dont stamp the ticket if it has been used. Its electronically stamped, but no printing on the ticket, vs buses when the ticket is printed on. And they aint going to take your word that its never been used or accompany you to the airport train station to check..

      • 

        grasstown on 03/01/2012 - 21:26

        I say no too

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  illumination on 03/01/2012 - 16:45

  Hmm, physical ticket? It's a service but it hasn't been used. It's not like getting a receipt from a taxi (the "service" is wholly consumed within Australia).

  I know it's pushing it, as these tickets are obviously for use in Australia only but thought it would be worth a try?

  Might give them a ring later.

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  Taita on 03/01/2012 - 18:23

  I've only used TRS for items like watches etc. They dont require a name on the receipt, sometimes they dont even want to see the item taken out of ur hand luggage. But tickets…. I dont think so.

  let us know how it went for u.

  … and maybe we can get tax refund on the airfares as well.

  • 

    csg001 on 22/01/2012 - 22:06

    International airfare are GST free. :P

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  c64 on 03/01/2012 - 18:33

  i would consider tickets a service rather than goods

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  dealsniper on 03/01/2012 - 20:46

  just a side note, how many items can you claim at a time when leaving the country? is it just one 300+ receipt or can you do 2x 300+ receipt etc? thanks

  • 

    cdundee on 04/01/2012 - 09:23

    Don't know the top limit, but have personally claimed several receipts over $300 in one go, similar experiences as above, no questions asked and hardly checked the goods. Friend of mine claimed a refund for a $14 000 diamond…

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  joannatan on 05/01/2012 - 11:29

  the answer is no, if you can claim, why don't u claim the gst on your air fare ticket or if u take cruise u can claim your cruise ticket as well.

  Buy goods no more than 30 days before departure
  Wear or carry the goods on board the ship or aircraft and present them along with the original tax invoice, passport and international boarding pass to a Customs Officer at a TRS facility

  • 

    c64 on 05/01/2012 - 13:28

    +4

    bugger, i can't claim back gst on my hooker

• 

  [Deactivated] on 05/01/2012 - 23:04

  +2

  Last time I claimed the TRS it was on some wedding rings and the guy said part of the TRS (as it's a TOURIST refund scheme) is that you're not meant to bring the items back into the country. Luckily for me they weren't my wedding rings so I didn't have to lie to say I wasn't bringing them back into the country. I think you'd have trouble convincing them the transport tickets weren't coming back.

  • 

    bluedufflecoat on 06/01/2012 - 08:31

    I brought my netbook out of the country, got the GST refund, and brought it back in after my trip. Maybe the guy wanted to give you a bit of a hard time.

    • 

      ozshaz on 06/01/2012 - 09:24

      +2

      Actually the guy was telling the correct thing..below is the info from customs website..if you bring back the things then you need to pay the GST back…

      Bringing the goods back into Australia

      If the goods are to be brought back into Australia, please be aware that they may be subject to GST. Normal passenger concessions apply and include any items for which a TRS claim has been approved (excluding most personal items such as new clothing, footwear and articles for personal hygiene and grooming). If the value of those goods together with overseas purchases exceeds the passenger concession, the goods must be declared to Customs on your return to Australia. Penalties apply to undeclared taxable goods.

      If in doubt you should declare the goods to Customs on your return.

      More information is contained in the brochure 'Know Before You Go' which is available from Customs

      • 

        bluedufflecoat on 06/01/2012 - 10:20

        fair point. Netbook was not quite the allowed passenger concession and therefore didn't breach any rules or whatever.

      • 

        illusionarybreeze on 07/01/2012 - 00:35

        What's the allowed passenger concession? Is that the $900?

      • 

        cwongtech on 18/01/2012 - 02:33

        Just open the netbook and handcarry it, anything that is not new usually means you don't have to pay for it

      • 

        [Deactivated] on 23/01/2012 - 02:56

        Are you serious? They have on record that you took it out. While you might get lucky that someone might not check, relying on this bit of advice could cost someone dearly.

        Taking your "used" logic further then anything you buy os that is opened and used by you wouldn't need to be declared.

        Have you carefully read ozshaz, quoted para

        If the value of those goods together with overseas purchases exceeds the passenger concession, the goods must be declared to Customs on your return to Australia.

        And then the post a few further down, about the engagement ring. Worn = used and that wasnt exempt.

        And how many times have you used this strategy of yours?

      • 

        cwongtech on 23/01/2012 - 03:43

        @ozpete
        I haven't personally used the 'open up after leaving country and take goods back into country', not rich enough for the blingbling.
        Parents have though, used the Tourist-refund scheme.
        Oh, I forgot, I think they got their long-time friend who was flying-in later to bring it in.
        This method also works really well if you're flying with a trusted friend :)
        Swap luggages, anything on their record that they brought out through tourist-refund-scheme is now on your luggage (make sure they don't shove food in their luggage though).
        Same with your luggage, anything on your record, isn't on your hand (because your luggage is with your trusted friend), and you have their luggage.
        That should work.

      • 

        [Deactivated] on 23/01/2012 - 07:21

        Ok now that's a different and plausible strategy. As long as they can have something that indicates it was an Aussie bought product.

  • 

    Ndiddy on 06/01/2012 - 11:53

    Interesting point you mention here tantryl.

    I bought the soon to be Mrs Diddy an engagement ring prior to us departing for a Euro/Canadian holiday (was actually proposing where we met in Barcelona and then heading to Canada to share the news with her folks). The timing was such that I didn't even think about TRS but closer to the flight date I stumbled across the TRS thread on whirlpool and thought I'd give it a shot.

    Go to the TRS counter in MEL and produce the receipt and show the ring. Customs says look no problem getting the GST back but if Mrs Diddy comes back to Aus within a year she has to declare it (as the value was well over the $1800 concession- $900 per person pooled). Again no problem.

    Fly into Syd and tick the box on the form and get sent through the customs line where they were more interested in checking our bags. After a quick search they say, whats the good/s you're declaring at which time we point to the ring. Had to wait for a "special" customs officer to deal with us but after hanging around for 15mins they told us not to worry about it :)

    Don't think I'll be going through the hassle again of getting the GST refunded only for GST to be payable on the way back. I wanted to do the same thing for the wedding bands when we leave for the honeymoon but again with the price being over the allowed concession I don't think I'll bother.

    • 

      cwongtech on 18/01/2012 - 02:35

      Just get Mrs Diddy to wear the ring next time, they're not going to say "Hey, didn't you bring that out of the country last time? We've got it on cameras"

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  illumination on 07/01/2012 - 03:10

  Interesting discussion going on here. I haven't called them up to verify it yet (been lazy) but I will try and get around to it soon.

  But yea based on the discussion so far, I'm not expecting too much. I mean I KNOW for a fact that I was pushing it but you know, why not.. I'm a cheapass (and we all are here aren't we?)

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 07/01/2012 - 08:28

    Interesting discussion….

    Guess you weren't really serious, so why even raise the issue.

    At least you should have the courtesy to have rung to find out.

    Its a complicated issue that you raised, people spent time doing some checking to help out.

    On a lighter note… More a Lazyass and Cheap, than a Cheapass and Lazy :)

    (After TWAM discussion - thread re-opened)

• 

  illumination on 17/01/2012 - 01:49

  +1

  Was given a flat no. lol.

  However, it was a little strange. It went something like this..

  Me: Can I claim bus tickets? I know consumables partly or wholly consumed cannot be claimed, what about bus tickets that have not been used? TravelTen tickets
  TRS: I don't think so.. it only applies to products
  Me: Ok, fair enough - but do you know what tickets I'm talking about? It's not like having a train ticket, because train tickets are consumed on the date of purchase and explicitly state the date it was purchased on. TravelTens are not partially consumed until a trip is used [I said something like that to try and clarify the distinction between a train ticket or taxi fare]
  TRS: Ok, definite no.
  Me: Ok. Thanks. Bye

  Just not sure whether the fact I went on rambling might have caused her to feel like "ah one of these annoying people. I'll just say it's a no" or whether she might've been looking it up while I was rambling. Either way, looks like it's a no!

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 23/01/2012 - 03:06

    At least you can now enjoy your trips … Bon Voyage for the OS one, not sure if the same applies to the travel tens… LOL