Treasury Laws Amendment (GST Low Value Goods) Bill 2017 – Bill to impose Australian GST on foreign vendors of sub-$1,000 goods passes Lower House but Labor flags amendments to delay its introduction 1 year whilst the Productivity Commission investigates other methods of levelling the GST playing field

On Wed 14.6.17, the Treasury Laws Amendment (GST Low Value Goods) Bill 2017  passed by the House of Reps without amendment and now moves to the Senate. The Bill proposes to impose GST on supplies of imported low-value goods, ie those worth less than A$1,000.

On the same day, the Labor Party flagged it will move amendments in the Senate that delay the commencement of the Bill by 12 months, to 1 July 2018. It also called on the Government to request that the Productivity Commission conduct a short inquiry on implementation and other GST collection models, giving the Government and Parliament the opportunity to consider legislative amendments well before a 1 July 2018 start date.

Labor has expressed its in-principle support for applying GST to low value imported goods below $1,000, but noted that the Senate Economics Legislation Committee report detailed many complaints and concerns with the legislation, including that the proposed “vendor-based” model would be complex and costly to administer, and that there will be unfavourable impacts on consumers with the costs of implementation being passed on.

[APH – Bills Digest; Bill; EM] [LTN 110, 14/6/17]