Morrison's lies about the new 10% GST on internet purchases from overseas

You now have to pay 10% on your Norton subscription renewal

Quietly and with little fanfare, the gov has slapped a 10% Goods and Services Tax on internet purchases from overseas on anything under $1,000 for Australians. For those overseas unfamiliar with the GST here, just about everything you buy in Australia you pay 10% tax on that goes to the gov (including at the moment Tampons). This tax is collected by the merchant and paid to the gov via them.

Until recently lower cost items bought from overseas online attracted no Australian GST. After all, it's a big ask to get a foreign based company, or even small foreign sellers, to collect 10% tax on everything they sell to Australians online, and expect that merchant to pay the collected tax to the gov here. But that's exactly what the gov has done.

My recent Norton subscription went up by 10% this time to $121 instead of $110 for the year. WTF? We have to save up money to pay the $110, and because of this my debit card came up short at the supermarket. There was $11 extra gone (you count every dollar on a pension). I guess Norton has a long term history in Australia so it was worth their time and effort to do this?

Not so with Amazon, who only recently arrived and set up in Australia. The other day they announced they'd not be selling from their US outlet to Australians anymore because of this new tax. Instead Australian customers will be directed to the recently opened Australian outlet with fewer products available. So what happened to free trade then?

Now treasurer Morrison is blatantly lying to the public, asserting that he's getting overseas companies to pay tax. This is a complete lie, and I'd be surprised if anyone in their right mind fell for it. It's the customer that pays the tax, not the seller. The merchant collects the tax yes, and gives said tax to the gov, but it comes from their customers.

Morrison expects us to believe that Norton were kind enough to pay the $11 GST charged to me. What utter bullshit.

This comes from the gov of small taxes FFS. This is nothing less that a great big new tax hoisted on us.

WE pay the GST NOT the companies. Get it? Great big new tax.... Also, as a pensioner I was infuriated that my Norton antivirus attracted a 10% GST. Instead of $120 (which we have to save for) you charged me $11 GST more at $121. I paid it, not them. pic.twitter.com/QZVlJuRSVr

— Peter Hiv (@HivPeter) June 4, 2018