What is stopping you leaving?I seriously cannot wait to leave Australia.
Everytime I hear news about this country, it's always bad
What is stopping you leaving?
What is stopping you leaving?
Where do you plan on going?Currently getting my university degree, and after that I'll need to save up quite a fair bit
You can't just up and leave as you please. It's an expensive process that requires a lot of planning. Immigration alone is a massive pain in the ass
The second.Can someone explain to me, is this on top of the normal sales tax or is this just applying the already-in place sales tax to digital goods? The way people seem outraged by it I'd say the first, but I have a suspicion it's the second.
It's the latter.Can someone explain to me, is this on top of the normal sales tax or is this just applying the already-in place sales tax to digital goods? The way people seem outraged by it I'd say the first, but I have a suspicion it's the second.
Where do you plan on going?
How?This is a stupid decision and wil firth stagnate digital markets from ever truly taking off in Australia.
I'm pretty sure there is.Is there GST on PSN purchases? The emails I get never quite specify if it is included.
Because we already pay a ridiculous price when it comes to online goods because "Australia" and adding GST on top is going to push people further away.How?
Why would collecting the broad, standard sales tax stagnate consumption of digital markets? Europe is now collecting VAT on these purchases, Japan has introduced similar legislation and Canada/NZ are considering similar changes to their own GST/VAT laws.
My heart goes out to AusGAF.
You guys got all those scary-ass killer animals, and y'all have to pay these crazy-ass prices for games..
Why is it that Australia seems to draw the shortest straw all the time?
The markup applied to Australian purchases is a separate issue. The issue here is that these entities are currently able to avoid the collection of GST because they sell from overseas - Australian based digital sellers already have to collect GST. As already stated, Australia isn't doing anything different from any other country by moving to collect sales tax on these purchases - they represent a significant tax loss for Australia (approx $2B I've seen estimated).Because we already pay a ridiculous price when it comes to online goods because "Australia" and adding GST on top is going to push people further away.
Australia is already being "Marked Up"
Thanks. Bit of a relief.I'm pretty sure there is.
Why shouldn't an entity selling intangibles into Australia have to collect GST on purchases? Not collecting the GST on these purchases is giving foreign sellers (like Steam) a cost advantage over Australian based sellers and is a significant tax leakage (I've seen some estimates of approx $2B p/a). This isn't unprecedented either, Europe has VAT collection for these purchases, and Australia already has GST reverse charging provisions for a similar reason.
Eshop, psn and live already charge gst I'm pretty sure.^^^^ deadly fauna is a made up convention used to help slow the flow of foreigners . It's not really working anymore though.
....
So the eShop is going to be get more expensive? Fuck.
Understandable and I'm all for collecting on companies avoiding taxes, however the Australian pricing issue is still relevant. Even wih local representatives of a global company the markup is prevalent, meaning the tax would increase the price to even more ridiculous costings.The markup applied to Australian purchases is a separate issue. The issue here is that these entities are currently able to avoid the collection of GST because they sell from overseas - Australian based digital sellers already have to collect GST. As already stated, Australia isn't doing anything different from any other country by moving to collect sales tax on these purchases - they represent a significant tax loss for Australia (approx $2B I've seen estimated).
That's just not accurate. The point of GST/VAT etc is that the they're collected by the selling entity, not the government. We're not even talking about a significant cost burden, the EU estimate cross border VAT compliance at 5,000 euro per differing regime. And if entities don't comply? There are well established international legal avenues for recourseNoone's saying they shouldn't pay it but how do you make an overseas company pay tax in a country they don't even have a real presence in.
Sales taxes just are not capable of dealing with cross border transactions.
The markup applied to Australian purchases is a separate issue. The issue here is that these entities are currently able to avoid the collection of GST because they sell from overseas - Australian based digital sellers already have to collect GST. As already stated, Australia isn't doing anything different from any other country by moving to collect sales tax on these purchases - they represent a significant tax loss for Australia (approx $2B I've seen estimated).
Why shouldn't an entity selling intangibles into Australia have to collect GST on purchases? Not collecting the GST on these purchases is giving foreign sellers (like Steam) a cost advantage over Australian based sellers and is a significant tax leakage (I've seen some estimates of approx $2B p/a). This isn't unprecedented either, Europe has VAT collection for these purchases, and Australia already has GST reverse charging provisions for a similar reason.
That's just not accurate. The point of GST/VAT etc is that the they're collected by the selling entity, not the government. We're not even talking about a significant cost burden, the EU estimate cross border VAT compliance at 5,000 euro per differing regime. And if entities don't comply? There are well established international legal avenues for recourse
EDIT: I have to go out for a bit but I will be back later, I'll respond to peeps
I haven't purchased a game directly on Steam for some time now. No point when I can get it cheaper through other legitimate avenues.It's an absolute farce that Valve are still charging in USD on the Australian store, plus the increased prices in general, Steam is fast becoming a terrible place to purchase games.
Yeah I'm the same. I can't remember last time I actually used steam to buy anything.I haven't purchased a game directly on Steam for some time now. No point when I can get it cheaper through other legitimate avenues.
The $2b figure is pulled out of someones ass and is not even remotely realistic. There's no way in hell there's $20bn in untaxed imports of intangibles per year. That would equate to 22m people spending $900/year. Each. What a load of horseshit. I'll start listening to arguments for this when realistic numbers are presented.The markup applied to Australian purchases is a separate issue. The issue here is that these entities are currently able to avoid the collection of GST because they sell from overseas - Australian based digital sellers already have to collect GST. As already stated, Australia isn't doing anything different from any other country by moving to collect sales tax on these purchases - they represent a significant tax loss for Australia (approx $2B I've seen estimated).
Cool, so now its;
- game priced at Australian RRP
- charged in US currency so + exchange rate difference
- +10% on top for GST.
Good one. Thank fuck for GMG and sales.
Sorry guys but I don't see why digital video games shouldn't be taxed. This isn't some unjust outrage, it's a logical action for the government to take and it is inevitable.
I want my games as cheap as possible like anyone but I'm not going to pretend that my video games should be tax free when other things aren't.
Pretty sure you are already paying GST on PSN.Well it was fun while it lasted I guess... If this bleeds over to PSN I'm going to be really pissed off. We already pay a premium there.
Do they have an Australian presence? No they don't. They don't charge in AUD either. That proves to me they're a foreign entity. A foreign entity is under no obligation to collect tax for the Australian government for a transaction that takes place outside of Australia. That's all it comes down to in the end.Pretty sure you are already paying GST on PSN.
I can't see why Steam should be exempt.
Well the alternative is admitting that the LNP passed tax legislation that reduced the competitiveness of Australian businesses and that's never going to happen. Anyway as I said, if we're going to have a GST I'm not going to get upset that it's being applied fairly.The actual reason for blanket GST collection is protectionism/cronyism, ie it artificially increases the competitiveness of Australian companies (the truly sad thing is that in terms of digital goods we already suffer markup levels that mean even this isn't going to make them actually competitive).
Pretty sure you are already paying GST on PSN.
I can't see why Steam should be exempt.
Do they have an Australian presence? No they don't. They don't charge in AUD either. That proves to me they're a foreign entity. A foreign entity is under no obligation to collect tax for the Australian government for a transaction that takes place outside of Australia. That's all it comes down to in the end.