Thursday, November 23, 2017
James Sandbrook
EASTERN Bay businesses have welcomed Government proposals to apply GST to online overseas purchases.
Revenue minister Stuart Nash said the 15 percent tax would be applied to goods and services sourced from overseas, rather than the current rules of the tax being applied only to items valued at more than $400.
Overseas online sellers had an unfair advantage over New Zealand retailers, which had to pay GST, he said.
There is no confirmed date for when this tax will be introduced.
Some retailers are hoping this will mean a decrease in online shopping, and more business for New Zealand shops.
Some of the immediately affected items will be clothes, toys, and cosmetics, welcome news to small businesses that sell these items.
Owners hope shops like theirs will thrive under the proposed change.
“It makes sense, and it levels the playing field,” said one store owner.
The consensus among Eastern Bay retailers is, “If it stops people buying online, it’s good.”
But, not everyone is happy with the new tax, with some shoppers not looking forward to paying extra for their online purchases.
“It’s fair, but that doesn’t make me happy about it,” said one regular online shopper.
There has also been some backlash towards the tax for a different reason.
An online shopper said the reason they shopped online was because of the limited products in New Zealand, not necessarily because of lower prices.
They believe it was unfair to make people pay more for an item just because it was not available in the country.