[LINK] Claim by Harvey Norman That Imports Are GST Free

[Fernando Cassia]

On Wed, Feb 1, 2012 at 18:33, Scott Howard <scott at doc.net.au> wrote:

> Were this could get interesting is if you made multiple orders. Customs has
> the right to treat multiple shipments going to the same person within a
> certain timeframe as a single order.
>

Wow... and I thought I had to suffer a lot with Argentine customs. ;)
Please don´t let this idea reach our shores.

Just FWIW, customs down here in Argentina can and indeed does, treat any
imports of more than 3 units of a given item (say 3 routers of the same
brand and model#) as a commercial import, because Customs has the right to
suspect it´s not a "personal import" but an import with intent to re-sale.

In fact, these rules are not written anywhere afaik but that´s how customs
operates "if in doubt, we suspect the importer is trying to cheat on us".
In once went overboard and ordered about 35 DVD movies from Amazon.com in a
single shipment. Customs insisted that it was a commercial import because
"no one buys 35 movies at once". Just for the record no single movie had
two copies in that shipment, all single movies, but 35 of them.

Anyway, I won, after I showed them I had been accumulating Amazon.com gift
certificates for a year to reach my magic number of 35....

Just curious, what´s the duties/tax rate on electronics imported  by
individuals say from the USA to Australia? (say, a couple routers delivered
over FedEx or UPS, with commercial invoice enclosed).

Thanks...
FC

-- 
During times of Universal Deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary
act
Durante épocas de Engaño Universal, decir la verdad se convierte en un Acto
Revolucionario
- George Orwell