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I contacted Aussie Customs to get them to clarify the position regarding claiming GST when going overseas. At the moment, you can claim back GST if you leave the country within 30 days of purchasing the gear, as long as you have a tax invoice (you do this in Sydney airport after going through immigration). But, the government giveth and the government taketh a way! You do have to declare the goods on the way back in. So I asked Customs what was the point and to cut a long story short, you claim the refund on the way out - in this case, on my 5D I will get back approx $460. They either send you a cheque, yeah, right - or direct debit your bank account while at the airport. On the way back in, you declare the camera but it is depreciated by 20% of the original price. You then take the concession of $900 (or $1800 per family in our case) leaving approximately $158 to pay. So all in all, its worth the effort. I would not risk not declaring (sorry about double negative!) as you never know if they tag your passport info on the way out that you have declared a GST refund.

Hope this helps others thinking of going this route.
Cheers
Sheila

Thanks Sheila , very logical as you have explained it.

"But, the government giveth and the government taketh a way!" is extremely accurate

I love this Simplified Tax System...

Just wondering, does the invoice have the serial no. of the camera?

This is possibly not needed. This GST claim is for all goods (over $300 I believe) many of which would not necessarily have serial numbers. I am sure that as long as the goods are described correctly in the tax invoice, there won't be a problem. Mind you, I have been wrong a couple of times in the last 60 years An ex-husband comes to mind

Cheers
Sheila

I suppose it is a possiblility that you have the camera stolen overseas and you then buy a 2nd hand 5D at half the price and bring it back in. End up paying $60 GST, but you would have to be very unlucky.

Sheila

There is an extra wrinkle. There is an administrative by law that says it is not cost effective to collect duties + tax under a certain amount ($50 I think) so if the difference is less than that they don't collect it even though it is owing (no help in your case of course)

stubbsy wrote:Sheila

There is an extra wrinkle. There is an administrative by law that says it is not cost effective to collect duties + tax under a certain amount ($50 I think) so if the difference is less than that they don't collect it even though it is owing (no help in your case of course)

Peter's point is a vitally important one to keep in mind, because it effectively extends the $900 duty/tax free allowance somewhat.

Thanks Shiela,

A little different from my experience, (12 months ago)

1. Goods and reciept presented for inspection / claim at airport upon departure.

2. GST credited to my credit card, was there upon my return four weeks later.

3. No declaration or reinspection upon return.

As an aside, in Europe you can claim back 10% at the airport upon departure by presenting the receipt(s) and goods purchased. What you are not told is if you take a quantity of forms with you and get the retailer to fill a form in at point of sale, you get back 16%!

Andyt

(My SB800 cost AU$420)

I just left with a Nikon D70S, and a couple of lenses, grabbed the refund on the way out of ADL, noticed the funds were in my credit card account 5 days later

On the way back in, Customs spotted my occupation on my entry card, and promptly escorted me past about 800 others lined up well back thru the baggage carousel areas ! (YAY!)
They did a quick inspection, and I had declared the (GST refund) goods returning to Aust, (And expected the payback of the payback to occur) Nothing was said though?
I thought bugger it, and decided to ask as they were being so friendly
They said, Yeah, noticed that, have a nice day, and pointed me out the exit !
Before I left (Ran ?)I asked how it all worked as I hadn't done it before.

They did say that the way Shiela explained above is correct, but they dont really go looking for it too much. He stated: " Your on our side, have a nice day"
Sorry, I didnt ask if passports are flagged though on the GST refund??
I left thru ADL international, and returned thru SYD.

Guess I got lucky, but certainly aren't complaining.

team piggy : If you don't mind, what is your ocupation that got you, what appears to be special treatment ?

Alpha_7 wrote:team piggy : If you don't mind, what is your ocupation that got you, what appears to be special treatment ?

Perhaps, something unusual!

Make sure you bring the ORIGINAL RECIEPT !!

I didn't at a recent trip to NZ....but they did stamp my copy receipt and will have to post to customs in Canberra to get my refund.

Would you believe a Porn Star ?...


No ?



Ok....

I am in the: <edited because I am apparently a w@nk>

But hey it saved me a 2 hour + wait in line

team piggy wrote:Bit of a W@nk

Hmm, you're not wrong there!

People with clearances don't advertise the fact, especially on the big bad old internet.....

Cheers

team piggy

Next time, when you arrive into Iraq and tell them you're an "agent".

They will send you to another exit door without any return, "allez sans retour"

Shiela - I bought my 350D + accessories at the end of last year and claimed 10% back on my way out to Norway for a couple of weeks.

I wasn't actually aware of the need to declare the purchase, and didn't declare in on the way back in.

On my return I didn't have any problems, it wasn't mentioned at any stage and the money had safely arrived in my account...

digitor wrote:

team piggy wrote:Bit of a W@nk

Hmm, you're not wrong there!
People with clearances don't advertise the fact, especially on the big bad old internet.....

Yes, silly me, would that be the same bad old internet that has those searchable databases for these particular types of licensing arrangements?

Whatever was I thinking??...

team piggy wrote:would that be the same bad old internet that has those searchable databases for these particular types of

Is you all following the story of the US paper that used public databases to locate and ID a bunch of CIA agents? They're not disclosing the list or the exact search method, but it does look a bit scary if you're trying to avoid divulging your primary employer.

Schneier is a good place to start:
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2 ... or_co.html