With the strength of the Aussie dollar, and the relative weakness of both the pound and the US dollar, importing videogames has become increasingly more common place over the last couple of months. While the exchange rates continue to strengthen in our favour, the price of goods remain the same, causing many frustrated consumers to head overseas with their cash.
News.com.au is currently reporting that retailers, fearing a loss of income as a result of this, have begun to push for changes to the GST threshold in order to curb overseas spending, thereby encouraging consumers to continue spending money in Australian stores.
At the moment the board of Taxation don’t bother wasting their time chasing up on good imported when the value is under $1000, but retailers are calling for that threshold to be reduced, the argument being that the government will be able collect a fair chunk of extra tax dollars, whilst also encouraging consumers to keep their money in Australia.
The chances of this affecting game imports is low, given that the cost of games is far under the $1000 threshold, and underneath the proposed $400 limit being suggested by retailers, but it is an issue that could cause problems in the future should retailers look to reduce said threshold further.
We understand that retailers are having problems competing with overseas pricing in this situation, but the consumer has a right to seek out the best deal possible for themselves. We see this being an unresolvable issue until Australian prices are brought more in line with what consumers are paying overseas.
Thanks to Clipper from Neogaf for the tip.
Retailers Call For GST On Overseas Sales [news.com.au]
Leave a Reply