TRS Back for Local Purchases for Australians

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  RockyRaccoon on 18/04/2022 - 12:33

  +1

  Thanks for sharing this.

  It just shows that our public servants sometimes live in their own world and dont understand what generates income to our economy. (note I did say sometimes not always).

  How silly it was to encourage people to buy goods overseas when they could at least give jobs and some income to Australians and even maybe small amounts of tax from the income that these businesses generate.

  • 

    p1 ama on 18/04/2022 - 15:10

    dont understand what generates income to our economy

    Do you have any evidence for TRS actually having any impact on "what generates income to our economy" (whatever you mean by that, because I'm still not sure)?

    How silly it was to encourage people to buy goods overseas

    What goods exactly are you suggesting that people are purchasing overeseas that they would instead purchase here if there were TRS? I can't actually think of any cases where this is at the forefront of someone's mind as they're purchasing.

    Perhaps you could make the argument that being able to claim TRS makes people irrationally purchase things they would otherwise not purchase, but how big of an impact this actually is on the broader economy, I don't know.

    they could at least give jobs and some income to Australians

    Again, this is hypothetical, but I think we need to quantify how much this actually is and my hypothesis is that it's probably close to zero. The way I sort of see it is that the majority of TRS claims are opportunistic, i.e. "hey, I bought a new XYZ, but I happen to be going overseas, I'll claim TRS", rather than any overarching strategy.

    • 

      RockyRaccoon on 18/04/2022 - 19:13

      Well obviously you have spent a lot of time researching this.

      I will just go ahead and claim, just like people do with pensions, child care, medicare and a host of other government concessions. 😀

      • 

        p1 ama on 18/04/2022 - 19:26

        Well obviously you have spent a lot of time researching this.

        You were the one who claimed that ditching TRS would "encourage people to buy goods overseas when they could at least give jobs and some income to Australians and even maybe small amounts of tax from the income that these businesses generate", so I was asking if you had any evidence to actually substantiate that claim, or whether this is a conjecture.

        I will just go ahead and claim, just like people do with pensions, child care, medicare and a host of other government concessions. 😀

        Sure, but whether you personally will claim TRS or not is irrelevant to the original point, which was around which was a discussion around the policy implications of TRS.

    • 

      dizzle on 18/04/2022 - 19:52

      What goods exactly are you suggesting that people are purchasing overeseas that they would instead purchase here if there were TRS?

      Having worked in retail, it's happened a lot (at least before travel was shut down). Particularly on electronics, but also a lot on things that can be purchased from the outgoing duty free stores. Jewelry, perfumes, watches, purses. People will purchase headphones, phones, computers at David Jones, Myers, JB at prices that can be as cheap as duty free stores and still get the 10% back.

      I can't actually think of any cases where this is at the forefront of someone's mind as they're purchasing

      Many people plan their holidays well ahead of time, they will even research what alcohol is the best deal and pre-purchase that duty free and pick up on their way back in. You can book this online months before you leave. And while it's not being brought back into the country, I've had people buy TVs and home theatre systems to take back to family overseas because prices here were better and they got the GST (I didn't check to see if it really was cheaper than that country, but that's why the customers were purchasing).

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  chrisie on 18/04/2022 - 12:46

  Thanks OP Good info.

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  p1 ama on 18/04/2022 - 12:50

  +5

  To be perfectly honest, TRS has always seemed to be a tax loophole.

  For tourists visiting Australia, the scheme makes perfect sense. For Australians to claim TRS before a holiday and to just bring those items back into Australia makes absolutely no sense at all. Completely understand that they have to declare, but given it was never enforced, this was effectively how TRS was used.

  Basically the policy is such that if you are flying overseas, you can randomly get a GST break subject to certain obscure rules has never made any economic sense to me.

  • 

    RockyRaccoon on 18/04/2022 - 13:13

    +1

    Yes one aspect but if you accept that then there should be no exemption for purchases made overseas.

    And things like inwards duty free as well.

    • 

      gimli on 18/04/2022 - 13:37

      I think this is the only fair option.
      The whole exemption thing, i feel was more a practicalities thing where its not worth collecting a few dollars from people's overseas purchase.

  • 

    jimbobaus on 18/04/2022 - 14:52

    I know they do flag people who do a TRS claim when they leave Australia. Increases chance that you will be taken to red line when you return and if your items are still in your possession they can recharge you for the GST.

    • 

      st1ng on 18/04/2022 - 19:21

      +1

      I've claimed GST refunds at least five times and have never been put into the red line for claiming GST back. It's just not worth the hassle for them. And they are fully aware Australians claim the refund and then bring the device back into the country.

      • 

        TilacVIP on 19/04/2022 - 08:08

        +1

        Same here. Not once I have been sent to the red line.

        They're most likely too busy checking those from foreign countries bringing in all type of prohibited items [mainly food] to be effed about nabbing an Aussie to see if they are carrying their duty free purchases, which most will likely be.

      • 

        dizzle on 19/04/2022 - 19:05

        +2

        It just depends what you are claiming. If you claim a phone (or a couple of phones) it's credible that you are buying them for someone overseas. If you purchase a $10000 wedding ring, it's not likely you're leaving your wife overseas, so that will raise red flags.
        I wouldn't be surprised if they have lists of items with actions. Claim A, B or C and they ask you specific questions, if they're suspicious they flag your return. Claim X, Y or Z and it's automatically flagged.

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  burningrage on 18/04/2022 - 20:04

  +1 to OP. Thanks!

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  doweyy on 18/04/2022 - 20:53

  Awesome, thanks heaps for sharing.

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  saltypete on 19/04/2022 - 09:19

  +1

  Good one OP. 👍

  (Still not shopping from Harvey the thief)

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  reactor-au on 19/04/2022 - 10:25

  TRS for residents doesn't make sense anymore, because since 2018 goods under $1000 imported to Australia now attract GST. TRS should only apply to people that have travelled to Australia and are on the way out again.

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  LFO on 19/04/2022 - 13:29

  so they could change their mind again at any time?

  Probably.
  Election time is a very good time to make the mob happy.

  What a coincidence.