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Thread: Govt will block overseas site not collecting gst

  1. #51
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    Quote Originally Posted by tron07 View Post
    Just VPN around the blockage... good luck blocking the internet
    You may not think it's possible but it wouldnt be the first time our government blocked websites because a big company told them to. If enough people use VPNs and web proxies to get around this I'm sure old Gerry will see them blocked too.

    Government to censor the Internet: http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showth...t=6388&page=56

  2. #52
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    Quote Originally Posted by DarkHyren View Post
    You may not think it's possible but it wouldnt be the first time our government blocked websites because a big company told them to. If enough people use VPNs and web proxies to get around this I'm sure old Gerry will see them blocked too.

    Government to censor the Internet: http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showth...t=6388&page=56
    The Pirate Bay and other torrent sites are illegal, under international treaties as well as Australian copyright law they are well within their right to block copyright infringement.

    But VPN's are essential for business and government to run, to use public WiFi securely, to prevent foreign governments from spying, etc. Blocking VPN's would be like shutting down the phone networks because a criminal used a phone to commit fraud. You can't do it because the vast majority of traffic is 100% legal and essential.

    Besides everyone is jumping to the conclusion they will force web sites to collect GST. A much more reasonable method to implement is something along the lines of what the US does. In most states in America you are required to pay sales tax on everything you buy. How does the government collect that? Not by forcing out-of-state and foreign sites to collect tax but rather by making the resident pay up on their yearly tax return. You can do what most people do and just say you owe zero tax, or you can declare what you actually owe because if you get audited and they find you didn't pay up, well that's a crime.

  3. #53
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    Quote Originally Posted by DELTAprime View Post
    The Pirate Bay and other torrent sites are illegal, under international treaties as well as Australian copyright law they are well within their right to block copyright infringement
    Actually that is incorrect, torrent sites themselves are not illegal, it's the content some users choose to upload and share that is. The only thing that the torrent sites do that could be called illegal is not removing content if they get a cease and desist notice.
    But on the flip side plenty of torrent sites including TPB also have torrents of content that is free to use and distribute in any means people see fit, for example linux distributions are also hosted on those sites and those are not only freely distributed but encouraged to be distributed in such manners.
    So in essence the government blocking any torrent site rather then just blocking the "illegal" pages/users could be said to be the same as blocking the phone network because a criminal used it to commit a crime as they are punishing even those that use torrent sites for legal content for the actions of those that use them for illegal content.
    So if it came down to it I can very well see the government blocking the use of VPNs for all but those on business plans with an ISP and claiming "if you are on a residential plan you have no need to use a VPN for anything".

    On the tax matter we can only wait and see, the government could very well choose to enforce taxes on the Australian branches of companies like eBay and Amazon for overseas purchases made using their platform which is why they want to geoblock, to stop Aussie users buying from overseas so that the government cant chase the AU branches for money.
    It will obviously have less of an affect on companies that dont have an AU branch as no, the government cant collect taxes from companies that dont trade in Australia or have an ABN.
    It's all a matter of wait and see though, but I for one don't welcome this scam

  4. #54
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    This whole thing is nothing more than an attempt to pull in extra revenue on what the govt thinks is an untapped resource. Unfortunately the report prepared for the govt by KPMG (?) seems to assume a minimum of 65% compliance by offshore entities remitting GST which will result in $650M. Once you factor in collection costs they make a tidy profit. Big problem is assuming 65%. Like hell it will be that high. My guess would say 30% and then suddenly the whole thing is costing more to do than it raises.

    I understand the protectionist idea behind it but I don't agree. People who shop online are those who tend to be younger and will look around for the best price. They aren't older folk who walk into a store and just buy no matter the price. Not to mention a large portion of the goods purchased online from oversees are not available in Australia!

    By far this is one of the most idiotic ideas they have had. Just think of all the money being wasted on this dumb idea already. No doubt Shorten will jump on the negative public sentiment and start opposing this shortly.

  5. #55
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    Labor in principle support this but are asking for a stay of one year (so it'll go into effect on the 1st of July 2018 instead) so that more work can be done to assess if this is even worth doing.

    Let's see!

  6. #56
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    Quote Originally Posted by Raider View Post
    By far this is one of the most idiotic ideas they have had. Just think of all the money being wasted on this dumb idea already. No doubt Shorten will jump on the negative public sentiment and start opposing this shortly.
    And then after Shorten comes to power, he will try to implement his take on the same thing. Both parties are just as corrupt.

  7. #57
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    I haven't heard anything about this in weeks. I take it the politicians wised up and have "forgotten" about it.

  8. #58
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    Federal budget comes out soon, so if it is going ahead, it will be in there, as it would look on paper as earning them big revenue (ignoring the cost of implementing it), and their focus in the last few months was going after international businesses avoiding tax, which was a popular policy... so I think that this would be flagged as being related just to try to get it through.

  9. #59
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    I think that they are just keeping quiet about it to try and sneak it in.
    So long as this page exists on the ATO website I'd say it's still full speed ahead
    https://www.ato.gov.au/general/new-l...mported-goods/

    Also here's an article direct from Gerry Harvey and pals which is only a week old making unreasonable demands (but what else is new)
    http://blog.retail.org.au/newsandins...or-gst-imports

  10. #60
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    An update for those not familiar with the process of enacting legislation:

    On 23 March 2017, the Senate referred the provisions of the Treasury Laws Amendment (GST Low Value Goods) Bill 2017 to the Economics Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 9 May 2017.

    Submissions closed on 10 April 2017.

    9 May is Budget night so it will likely be announced then or just before. If anyone wants to read any of the 34 submissions on this then they can be found here.

    You can also read the transcripts of the public hearing here.

    There was also this comment in the hearings that I found particular interesting and probably quite on point:

    Mr Marar : In their submission, the Australian Retail Council conceded that retail has actually been growing quite a lot which contradicts, to some degree, the point that competition from online stores overseas is really a big problem. Retail stores within Australia have a number of advantages. The fact is they provide a sensory experience to the consumer which an online store cannot provide, their shipping and handling costs are usually a lot lower and their economies of scale are better for, say, a company like Harvey Norman, which is spread across the whole country and they have that sorted out. They certainly are motivated by their own interest, which is that they want to reduce their competition. I would also like to point out that a store like Harvey Norman is probably a lot better prepared to weather regulatory changes than a smaller store. For example, if an Australian store is trying to import stuff from overseas to onsell, they will be hit by this tax and they will less competitive than the big guys like Harvey Norman.

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