Frustrated by the government’s failure to charge GST on overseas goods bought online, retail veteran, Solomon Lew, will attempt to sidestep the charges placed on his company’s products.
Products worth less than $1000 that are bought from overseas do not attract a 10 per cent GST charge, and Australian retailers argue changes are needed to create a level playing field.
“As a direct result of government delays and inaction, I have been left with no choice and I will be asking my executive team, in 2015, to find the path to ship online product to customers into Australia GST and Duty free,” Lew told the annual general meeting of Premier Investments, which owns retailers including Just Jeans and Peter Alexander.
Lew said a failure to address the GST loophole on overseas goods will see good businesses fail and jobs lost.
He said Australia Post announced in November a service to facilitate overseas online purchases and “the effective avoidance” of the GST and customs duties.
That had prompted his company to look at getting its products to customers GST-free, Lew said.
“Urgent action is needed to ensure that this vibrant and key component of the Australian economy is able to operate under fair competitive rules,” he said.
Governments in the UK, US, Canada, and Europe had already acted to ensure fair competition in their retail markets, Lew said.
His comments follow frustration expressed by other retailers over the GST loophole, including Myer chairman Paul McClintock, and Harvey Norman chairman Gerry Harvey.
Lew also took a broad swipe at overseas governments’ perceived failure to deal with the fallout of the global financial crisis, the “dysfunction” of the previous federal Labor government and the “circus in the Senate” which has blocked parts of the federal budget.
AAP