In March 2014, the Commonwealth agreed to a request from the States collectively to further explore options around lowering the value at which GST is applied to the importation of goods into Australia. Currently, the threshold is id=”mce_marker”,000. On 19 September 2014, ahead of the G20 meeting in Cairns, the Treasurer met with State and Territory Treasurers. He said the States indicated they had not agreed a preferred workable approach on this issue. The States may choose to raise this as part of the Tax White Paper process, he said.
Mr Hockey said he also took the opportunity to discuss progress with the Commonwealth’s Federation and Taxation White Paper processes. He said the States will play a key role as all governments consider appropriate roles and responsibilities within the Federation and the taxation arrangements that will allow them to fund the services the public will demand in the future. Mr Hockey said Treasurers will continue to discuss these issues throughout development of the Government’s White Papers during 2015.
Source: Treasurer’s media release, 19 September 2014
[LTN 183, 22/9/14]