The new financial year is off to a pretty crappy start, with news that eGlobalDigitalCameras has closed its doors citing new GST regulations on imports which came into effect on July 1st.
The new legislation requires retailers to collect GST on low value imported goods under $1,000 from July 1st. The legislation also requires any business which generates more than $75,000 in sales to register with the ATO, whether they’re based in Australia or not.
In this case, eGlobalDigitalCameras.com.au which operates out of Hong Kong (despite the .com.au domain name) has posted a message advising customers that they have shut down, effective 23:59 AEST, June 30th, 2018.
In their statement below, they have promised to still ship pending orders, as well as honour warranty claims through their RMA centre. There is also a support email address for customers to email the company for any other questions.
It appears that the company is operating a sister site – dwidigitalcameras.com – which offers shipping rates to Australia, including free shipping to Australian Metro addresses. It’s entirely possible that this move by eGlobalDigitalCameras is just a rationalisation of their web properties.. but who can say.
This closure comes as Amazon has now started re-directing Australian customers away from their US site to a specialised ‘International’ site. This was a controversial move that some see as good for Australian retailers, but leaves Australians without a place to purchase some goods which are not offered for sale at any retailer here.
The closure of eGlobalDigitalCameras who also dealt in supplying goods not always available from Australian retailers, won’t be the last victim of the new legislation. There’s sure to be more, and while collecting the correct amount of tax is important, so is not gouging customers for prices.
One of the major problems with the new scheme is no one really knows which companies are registered with the scheme. Unlike Australian entities registered for GST – which are publicly listed on the Australian business register – offshore entities are registered effectively in secret.
The Australian Taxation Office has refused an FOI application for access to a list of some claimed 320 registrants citing secrecy legislation, noting that offshore registered entities aren’t public record like their Australian counterparts.
For the consumer, this makes the scheme even more problematic. Not only might their favourite retailer close shop, but others might claim to be registered – which can’t even be verified – and charge you “GST” only for the customer to be charged again by customs when it enters the country.
The scheme is short sighted and poorly thought out. The impact is perhaps most certainly yet to be realised.
Have you seen your favourite e-tailer close their doors in the wake of the new legislation? Let us know.
There was a really simple solution to this, and it makes me wonder what kind of idiots run this country. All they should have done is, once a package enters the country, gets to the post office, then you have a choice of either picking it up at the post office and pay gst, or when a package arrives you would get an sms telling you how much gst will be and choice of whether you want to pay it when delivered or at the post office. If other countries can have it, don’t see why people who have done… Read more »
Do not worry we do not have a single idiot in politics here in Australia. These guys know what they do. Do you think they want people buying from overseas? 99% of the laws are there to benefit their pockets.
Damn, good thing I bought my Nokia 6.1 when I did (June 29). I got it for $311 AUD all inclusive. IT retails at JB for $399. To answer the tax question, I’ve studied these types of things a fair bit as a high school economics teacher. eGlobal and truly overseas based companies do get a raw deal. I’m surprise they shut because again, it’s pretty hard for the ATO to collect form them, though the ATO registry is big. Even if it’s officially unenforceable for the ATO to charge a HK company, it’s not a good luck to knowingly… Read more »
Can anyone explain why a company in Hong Kong would feel compelled to comply with laws in another country? I can’t imagine they have an Australian office and can’t be fine or take to court. What can the oz government do to force them?
From what I have read there is no collect GST at border expect for purchases over $1000 which exist previously anyway.
You need to thoroughly check out Local prices & rebates before going overseas , recently i looked at a fuji 10-24 zoom at eglobal, it was A$979 , local price was $ 1169 at a major camera store chain
apparently A$190 more, BUT Fuji had a $200 cash back on aust stock & Freight was $59 inc insurance , SO it was $69 cheaper in Aust , pays to look at your options & do the sums.
Are there dedicated cameras that run Android?
Samsung Galaxy Camera and more recently check out the Panasonic Lumix CM10
Very nice, will have a look, thanks :). Always enjoyed the Lumix series of cameras when I had a dedicated one
“The scheme is short sighted and poorly thought out. The impact is perhaps most certainly yet to be realised.”
Ehh, I would say “working as intended”. Imposes arbitrary overhead on global retailers and erode public confidence so that people go back to being gouged by the local ones
Greedy Gerry Harvey, you’ve done it again. 🙁
I agree. Gerry Harvey has lobbied hard for this outcome. Nothing to do with political parties. I bet my house that a Labour Government will not repeal this legislation.
Yet another reason to note vote for this corrupt government come august.
“The scheme is short sighted and poorly thought out. The impact is perhaps most certainly yet to be realised.”
Pretty much the epitome of our current government.
and yet they got voted in for a second term… the populous believe that trickle down economics works contrary to actual evidence?
That Idiocracy movie is becoming ever more a reality rather than a fiction.