Tradewars 2020 (5 Dec, 2019)

[aardvark_admin]

This column is archived at: https://aardvark.co.nz/daily/2019/1205.shtml

Have you spotted any overseas e-tailers adding NZ GST to their bills when selling to Kiwis?

Will this "digital services tax" concept spread beyond those countries that have already implemented it (France) or are currently considering it (NZ, Britain)?

Could such a tax be the catalyst for a trade war with the USA?

Will the CEO of YouTube's admission that the site is a publisher rather than a platform come back to haunt her and the company?

Is it hypocrisy that the USA bitches about US corporates having to pay tax in foreign lands (by way of the aforementioned digital services tax) whilst at the same time demanding tax from non-resident, non-citizens who monetize their YouTube content?

Is this all just a Chinese curse that (in 2020) we will live in (very) interesting times?

[GadgetFreak]

Amazon's the only one (and possibly only the .com.au version) I've found to date.
Exactly as you prediteced, neither DX or AliEx have ...bothered... <grin>
Will be interesting to see, tho, what happens when those goods cross the NZ border.

[phill]

NONE of the overseas websites I buy from seem to have bothered complying with the NZ Government's diktat to start charging GST.
Am I surprised? No. Are you?

umm yehh .. little bit
aliexpress did it for aussie (probably still do )
aliexpress would not sell vaping equipment to nz ( some shops still dont ) because of the nz laws in the past . so they do have a history of complying with NZ regulations

i wonder if they are waiting for a 60k threshold to be past before it kicks in ( which would be good .. buy right at the start of the finance year and get tax free )


i guess next time i hit buy now i will see what the situation is

[Hiro Protagonist]

Have you spotted any overseas e-tailers adding NZ GST to their bills when selling to Kiwis?

DigitalOcean seem to be adding GST.

[GSVNoFixedAbode]

But given Aliexpress is a financial portal, doesn't the $60k threshold only apply to the individual sellers and not the facilitating site?

[phill]

thats what i used to think till they did it for the aussies

[Oldman_77]

Nope, Ali has capitulated Or at least added the tax. Will they had it over to our govt is another question.

[phill]

couple of million dollars interest free loan every quarter
why wouldn't they

its a bit of a golden goose for them
well ok in that its probably 0.0001% of their turnover
but it would certainly pay for the paperwork .. and employ a few extra friends

or
when was the last time an accountant said no to looking after some interest free cash on a regular basis

and no doubt .. sending the NZ government a bill each month for doing it

[Kiwiiano]

I’ve bought a load of stuff from Ali/Geek but the most expensive item was a $38 automatic pipette, anything more expensive warrants being aware of the Sale-of-Goods Act. That’s the whole point of those Chinese emporia, you can get stuff for 1/10 the price for the same thing* in NZ. The cost of chasing the GST on a $10 item is uneconomical.
(*Quality can vary but there’s no guarantee the the stuff in NZ shops isn’t crap.)