Quote Originally Posted by Jazzman View Post
I don't know if this has already been mentioned, but I was curious what the situation with forwarding items from Amazon via Shopmate was and I contacted AusPost. They gave me the following answer:
"GST will be payable on:
- The value of the item(s) you are shipping into Australia via ShopMate including any shipping fees or local taxes paid to the USA retailer (i.e how much you paid to purchase and ship the item)
-The value of the ShopMate shipping and service fee (including Extra Cover if applicable)

In basic terms, if the item is being delivered from outside Australia, anything you pay to purchase and ship the package will attract GST, as per the legislation."

What I don't get is why would we pay GST on the American domestic shipping to the Shopmate warehouse? An even more bitter pill to take is paying GST on second hand items!

Even if you have an item posted through five different countries before it gets here, all costs involved in getting that item purchased and sent to Australia, will have GST apply.
Remember, the S in GST stands for "Services", and all services that you require and pay for to acquire an item, is GST taxable. So the more you spend on getting something here (like a shipping forwarder, or protective bubblewrap or even gift-wrapping), the more tax will be paid on the total (declared) cost of you obtaining that item.