GST on Imports: Low Value Goods and GST at the Border

Which regime applies: the $1 000 test

Section 84-79 of the Act defines low value goods: goods with a customs value of $1 000 or less that are not tobacco, tobacco products or alcoholic beverages. The customs value is worked out as at the time the price is agreed, and it leaves out transport and insurance. Business.gov.au summarises it the same way: the threshold is based on the customs value, so transport and insurance costs are excluded.

A mixed order is split. If a parcel contains low value items and an item that is not low value, section 84-79(2) treats the two parts as separate supplies: the low value part stays with the seller's GST, the rest goes through the border.

Low value goods: GST charged by the seller

Overseas businesses and electronic distribution platforms (Amazon, eBay, Etsy and similar) that sell to Australian consumers register for GST once their sales connected with Australia reach $75 000, and add GST at checkout. You see it on the order. For a jacket with a customs value of $380.00 and $40.00 of delivery, the GST is $42.00, ten per cent of the $420.00 you pay. There is nothing more to pay on arrival, and no import declaration for you to make.

If you buy for a GST-registered business, give your ABN and say you are registered: business.gov.au notes that GST is not charged to Australian GST-registered businesses buying these goods for their business.

Goods above $1 000: GST at the border

For anything with a customs value over $1 000, and for alcohol and tobacco of any value, the goods are a taxable importation under section 13-5. The GST is 10% of the value set by section 13-20(2): customs value, plus the amount paid for international transport to Australia and for insuring the goods during that transport, plus customs duty and, for wine, wine tax. The importer (or their customs broker) pays it before the goods are released.

The duty rate itself depends on the goods' tariff classification and origin, which this site does not model: many goods enter duty-free, others pay a percentage. Enter the duty your broker or the Australian Border Force quotes. Brokers and the border agency may also charge processing fees, which are outside the GST value as far as this simulator is concerned.

Alcohol and tobacco: never low value

Section 84-79(3)(b) excludes tobacco, tobacco products and alcoholic beverages from the low value regime whatever their value. A $240.00 case of wine shipped from overseas with $60.00 of freight therefore goes through the border: GST of $30.00 on the $300.00 value, plus duty and, for wine, wine equalisation tax, before you receive it.

Imported services and digital products

The same logic applies to streaming, apps, software and online services bought from overseas by Australian consumers: business.gov.au confirms that GST applies to most retail sales of imported services and digital products, and that overseas suppliers register once their Australian turnover reaches $75 000. A registered business buying them for its business is not charged GST, and may have to account for it itself in limited cases (the reverse charge of Division 84).

For businesses: import GST on the BAS

GST paid at the border on goods imported for your business is a creditable importation: you claim it at label 1B like any other GST credit. Approved importers can defer the payment of import GST to their BAS, so they never pay it up front. Either way, the GST is a cash-flow item rather than a cost for a registered business, which is why importers compare supplier prices ex GST. To estimate the quarter, use the BAS and GST credits simulator; for the $1 000 line itself, the GST on $1 000 page shows what changes one dollar either side.