TRS - Friend Claims That They Were "Interrogated" and "Threatened" about Bringing Goods Back

Bargain-er on 23/10/2019 - 09:23
Last edited 23/10/2019 - 09:41 by 1 other user

Hi all,

Sorry if this question had been asked before.

My friend who went overseas and claimed TRS over the counter was "interrogated" if he would bring back his goods back to Australia. He was even "threatened" that his arrival back to Australia will be marked and his luggage will be searched for the item, and he would be fine if he brought it back. However, that didn't happen.

My question is if that is common occasion with TRS claim nowadays? If memory serves we are allowed to claim $900 per adult and $450 per child and can combined per family. So if the claim is within that limit, it's still legal to bring back the goods to Australia.

Any opinions/thoughts/experiences? Thanks in advance.

Travel

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Comments

        • djsherly on 24/10/2019 - 21:43

          What do you think the tax invoice is for? You know, the one you used to claim the trs?

          • trapper on 29/10/2019 - 12:35

            @djsherly: You're missing the point.

            How would they know some random phone you bring in was the same phone you took out and claimed TRS on?

  • brendanm on 24/10/2019 - 14:26
    -3

    Methinks your friend is full of it

  • jj brisbane on 24/10/2019 - 14:28

    Gold coast airport did the same thing to me about 8 years ago, i arrived back with my goods a month later and no one checked.

  • zathras on 24/10/2019 - 16:08

    There was a guy busted on the Border security TV show late last night for going back and forth to Vietnam three times in three months.
    They though he might be trafficking drugs, but turns out he was just trafficking Rolex watches to defraud the TRS.

  • shazz on 24/10/2019 - 20:46
    +1

    Taking a Samsung phone next month which I paid $95 GST. Purchased a week back.
    Should I be carrying the box which the phone came in with for the TRS claim?
    Also travelling back with my partner which gives me $1800 allowance. Should I be still be declaring goods while coming back?

  • Onnzo on 24/10/2019 - 20:58
    +2

    My recent experience with TRS in melb was not very pleasant. They have certainly changed their tune.

    I was asked if I understood the rules and advised that duty would be charged if it was brought back. I simply answered yes I understood and no I wasn't bringing it back.

    My view is acknowledge what they are saying and don't offer any more info than you need.

    I could see how someone who isn't as familiar with the process could feel intimidated. But hey, they are doing their job.

    • Dr Techno on 24/10/2019 - 23:48

      that was the same experience as me probably 4 or 5 years ago.. same words used.. but I read up on it and figured out I was under my duty allowance on the way back.

    • burningrage on 26/10/2019 - 23:13

      Best response of the day me thinks.

  • CalmLemons on 24/10/2019 - 21:31

    I think people have to think about a perspective other than their own. I travel a lot and they deal with a lot of people who 1. dodge the system 2. don't understand what is going on. 3. are blantantly ignorant. 4. know what they're doing and are purely upset that they couldn't claim something.

    If you talk to someone like a human being rather than rock up with resting b1tch face you'll find your experience much more pleasant.

    Actually, last time I was talking to the guy at the counter and asked, hey, why is border control manning the gst refund scheme counter, he goes, "NFI mate". to me and him, it seemed like such a waste of resources to be paying border control officers to hand out refunds….

  • cooni on 24/10/2019 - 21:38

    I claimed an iPhone 11 Pro going out for a holiday a couple of weeks ago.
    I was kindly asked if I’d be bringing it back to which I answered, no, I’m swapping phones with a cousin overseas.

    I was not flagged coming back home.

    • djsherly on 24/10/2019 - 21:47

      I’m swapping phones? Hmmm. Sound believable to me.

      By the time you’re flagged and captured to recover $100 bucks in GST, customs has spent much more than that solely in labour to retrieve it. It’s simply not worth recovering.

      • muncan on 26/10/2019 - 14:38

        Makes me wonder if that $556M in lost revenue was just the cost of employing staff for 20 years. (e.g. 500 staff x 20 years x $55.6K salary = $556M)
        Which also makes me wonder how much revenue the TRS actually generates. Maybe they should open some mall stores to generate positive revenue.

  • netjock on 24/10/2019 - 23:17

    Maybe ask Gerry Harvey for comment.

    • BartholemewH on 26/10/2019 - 22:04

      "All TRS claimants are professionals" - Gerry Harvey

  • Dr Techno on 24/10/2019 - 23:41
    +1

    I claimed a $1600 laptop, it was marked on my passport. On my way back I declared it, went to the baggage search queue.. They asked what I was declaring I just said laptop but I can combine the limit with my family. They let me go on without searching.

  • andyhui01 on 25/10/2019 - 07:55
    +3

    I can picture this happening. I was once genuinely exporting a Rolex for resale in Hong Kong. This happened to be the exact same watch I was wearing.

    Got told the whole spiel. I kept telling them it was a gift and it will not be coming back. She kept saying you should think twice before you proceed, it isn’t worth the $1.5k or so.

    She goes, OK. If you insist on proceeding, I’m going to blacklist (her words) you and when you come back, customs will go through everything and find that watch. The funny thing is I wear the exact same watch so I raise my wrist and ask her, what happens if they find this one which is identical? Didn’t get an answer.

    Never got inspected in the way in. Lol

  • DarkOz on 25/10/2019 - 08:16

    LMFAO!

    Interrogated = Asked
    Threatened = Warned

    Drama queen at her very best.

  • DiscoJango on 25/10/2019 - 08:27

    You/your "friend" ;) should not be worried.

  • sheepzpal on 25/10/2019 - 08:48
    -1

    just say it's a gift for a family member. Can't ask you anything more.. hahaha

  • babolimp on 25/10/2019 - 09:31

    i was claiming on a $3k ring. they gave me the hard word. it was clear they didn't believe it was a gift and they got 2 of the TRS people involved in their little interrogation. they said it would be better if i admitted it wasn't a gift now and that if i chose to go ahead, they were going to have me searched on the way back. on the return trip, i went through customs on my own accord as i was bringing in some wood and honey, but that was fine. there was no mention of the ring and my bags were not searched.

    i get the feeling that if they think you are lying they will do their best to scare you into not doing the claim, but anything about marking you for a search is all a bluff really.

  • oztite on 25/10/2019 - 09:55

    Yeah that happened to me. Claimed something of a substantial value, no problem going out and no warning whatsoever. On return though, as soon as we walked through the custom about 7 officers surrounded us, and yeah pretty much "interrogated" us. It was pretty bad with threats of "prison". I lied for about 5 seconds and then gave up. Said I brought the item back. They still searched the entire luggage and all handbags, like thoroughly checking every piece of underwear type of thing. Then we got body searched. Whole process took about an hour and we almost missed our connection flight. Finally was sent to the counter to pay the tax back. No fine, just the GST. And in fact they decided the item had depreciated a fair bit over the time I was overseas (electronic goods, used heavily overseas), and so the GST I paid back was less than the GST I was refunded initially. This was a genuine mistake as I didn't know we had to declare tax-free item when returning. If you stay under the limit you'd be fine. I wouldn't do it again, I was pretty wrecked after the experience. This was 2013.

    • Drewbo on 25/10/2019 - 15:12
      +2

      If it was a "genuine mistake", why did you lie?

      • oztite on 25/10/2019 - 16:48
        -1

        Good question. Guess I was shit scared and so said "no" automatically before saying "yes"… I regret it, it was not a good experience.

  • lint on 25/10/2019 - 10:00
    +1

    This has happened to my family on numerous occasions. Being interrogated about bringing whether we were actually taking goods being claimed one way or actually bringing them back in, and making false threats that they've flagged us in the system and when we return they would go through our stuff to make sure we weren't bringing the goods back, and warning of penalties if we did.

    We never do anything to provoke it, only we often have several items to claim between all of us.

    Just an abuse of power by a bunch of Border Force whackjobs who are overworked and understaffed for the line of work, who hate their job and take it out on the people they're supposed to be serving.

    I advise just being courteous and telling them you are well aware of the rules for TRS claims, as well as duty-free goods brought back on return, and that any goods being brought back are a matter for when you actually come back over the duty-free threshold will be declared.

  • Herbse on 25/10/2019 - 10:35
    +1

    Don't you watch Border Patrol?

    No one is safe

  • netsurfer on 25/10/2019 - 11:22
    +1

    If you claimed less than or equal to $900 worth of good, they won't "remind" you because you are under the threshold. However, if it is >$900, then by law, you need to declare on your way back if you bring the item back. They have up to 12 months to pursuit this. So technically, if they don't check it this time on your way back, they could still do so next time (if it is still within 12 months).

    Basically, they know the following items are often being claimed incorrectly:

    • iPhones (current / latest gen).
    • Wedding ring(s).
    • Expensive watch(es).
    • Expensive laptop(s).
    • Expensive handbag(s).

    They know most people bring them back. Right now, if you claimed expensive wedding rings on your way out, you have a good chance of being targeted / inspected on your way back. They are closing a blind eye on iPhones at the moment. They do remind you that you must declare on your way back. Some people get $1000+ back in GST on wedding rings and catching those are worthwhile for border security.

    • timmyb on 25/10/2019 - 12:45
      +2

      I claimed the GST back on an engagement ring that I purchased for a little over $2.5k back in 2009. I was simply told to make sure I declared it on the way back in but no third degree or interrogation.

      On the way back I didn’t declare at, as technically I didn’t bring it back. My new fiancé did.

      She didn’t declare it either (she didn’t know how much it was worth), and neither of us was questioned over it.

  • ankor on 25/10/2019 - 12:35

    Funny, I just went up and asked if I could claim if I was bringing it back at the counter and the person just waived me through.

    I had been told by others that someone had tried to get a whole bunch of exxy Leica gear through and the cost of the refund being significant meant lots of questions aka interrogations about that.

  • FirstWizard on 25/10/2019 - 15:24
    +3

    I got tax back on my new phone (it was $950) a few weeks ago. They were like, "we see that this is the phone you use, and you'd be bringing it back, so you should declare it on entry."

    Then I said, "well no, after the tax return my phone would be less than $900 so I don't have to declare it, right?"

    Then she silently processed the claim.

    • Numlock on 25/10/2019 - 15:39
      +2

      What a legend you r

  • Numlock on 25/10/2019 - 15:38

    Any opinions/thoughts/experiences? Thanks in advance.

    Is your friend Asian by any chance?

  • manbearpig on 25/10/2019 - 19:37
    +1

    Why is it always 'my friend'?

  • kaleidoscope on 26/10/2019 - 09:10

    The rules are pretty clear and common sense. If you claim TRS the idea is you won't bring it back. It's perfectly legal to bring it back, but you have to declare.

    So if the claim is within that limit, it's still legal to bring back the goods to Australia

    This gives an idea your friend was trying to find a loophole a threshold limit to play with.

    Have claimed TRS from Changi airport, had no trouble at all and no questions. The only issue I would like to mention was, it had a very slow moving queue :|

  • ahly92 on 26/10/2019 - 11:16
    +1

    Wait there is a limit now? Last year i got 2k by claiming my engagement gold and "presents", officeres were very friendly an no questions asked on the way back

    • cwongtech on 26/10/2019 - 11:31
      +2

      Wait there is a limit now? Last year i got 2k by claiming my engagement gold and "presents", officeres were very friendly an no questions asked on the way back

      There's always been a technical limit for Australians intending to return with the item. $900 of value when entering the country.

      Personally, I never return to Australia back with the item, they're always presents for my uncle Bob who's a builder overseas who happens to live at every destination that I travel to, so no worries there.

      • burningrage on 26/10/2019 - 23:22

        Bob's your uncle indeed.

  • gimme on 26/10/2019 - 13:24
    +1

    Only had one experience with TRS in Melb and the woman was utterly disinterested. Went out of her way to be obnoxious and as dismissive as possible. This was some $40 refund of some trnkets. Massive power trip over her role as a 'border control' officer where in fact she's a glorified checkout chick. Obviously if I weren't at an airport where you have zero real rights I would have said something but wasn't worth souring my holiday over some person who's probably unhappy about their life choices.

    • muncan on 26/10/2019 - 23:43

      If time permits, sometimes it’s easiest to just say ‘thank you, have a nice day’ and leave, then join the end of the queue again. This doesn’t work in Adelaide though, because there’s only 1 staff member at the TRS desk and the line is usually just me.

      • gimme on 27/10/2019 - 08:30

        There were 2 TRS in Mel who were initially chatting to each other about personal stuff while I was the only person in line. Eventually one of them decided to acknowledge my presence..approx 3 min later.

  • lainey13 on 26/10/2019 - 14:08

    Always fronted up with items, claim and credit card ready to go. Smiled and said whoever the item was for overseas and always had claim processed no problems with no threats. I make their job very easy and they make my claim easy. No dithering, no questions, no complaints, claim and go!

    No search/flag either on the way back. If you really want to be safe give to another person (that you are travelling with not a rando) to hold and leave customs separately.

  • MountFranklin on 27/10/2019 - 21:51

    I got interrogated once for claiming an engagement ring. They searched everywhere for it and it was on my wife's hand.

    I just stuck to my story that I gave it to a friend overseas and they eventually let me go because they couldn't prove that the ring my wife brought back was the exact same ring I claimed when leaving Australia.

    Probably held up at customs for 20minutes

  • Eeples on 27/10/2019 - 22:19

    If the OPs friend is taking out 8 $100 phones…. that would be suss, right?

  • Porker on 30/10/2019 - 17:30

    So… If a claimed GST-refund item is above the $900 threshold for one adult, but less than the total allowable limit for the travelling party, does one or all or portion of the travelling party check (yes) that they have $900 of goods on the Australia entry card?

    My situation is two adults and a child travelling with an allowable limit of $2250, and I purchased laptop at $1600 which I have full intention of bringing back into country.

    Do I only or all three return cards need to check yes for the $900 question? Or I and my wife check yes, but my son can have it as checked no.

    I assume best practise might be for all to check yes and then discuss with the customs officers, but just curious as to what is the exact process.

  • freestyle18 on 13/12/2019 - 08:57

    How do we know how much depreciation to apply? I'm taking out something around the $1000 mark but trip is only 2 weeks.

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