Australian internet shoppers may be in for a rough ride, as new taxes may soon be applied to all of their purchases.
Until now, savvy Australian shoppers that were making their purchases online could skirt the government’s 10% goods and services tax, the equivalent of VAT. That tax was absent for online transactions under A$1000. But now, according to Mashable, the PM alongside regional leaders have reportedly agreed to lower that threshold down to A$20.
If this becomes the new law, then users will find themselves instantly paying 10% more for most of their online purchases. But the trouble doesn’t stop there because, as one consumer advocacy group notes, the extra revenue from the tax would be less than the money needed to actually collect the new tax.
If that’s the way things stand, and the new tax still goes into effect, the cost of collecting the tax may also be passed down to consumers. We already know that it’s cheaper to fly out of Australia, buy stuff, and go back than it is to buy it locally, but this new system would make things even worse.
There’s no clear indication on whether the program would actually be implemented in this form, but Australian consumers can’t be happy that it’s even a possibility.
Source: Mashable | Australian Flag image courtesy of Shutterstock