Tourist Refund Scheme

[Cabbage]

A few weeks ago as I was about to fly out, took my new laptop to the TRS counter and asked to have my GST refunded. Cost of the laptop was $1350 incl GST.

The lady at the counter advised me she could refund my GST, but I would have to declare the item and pay GST upon my return as it was worth over $900. I advised her I would be happy to declare the item when I come home, but seeing as though it was not significantly over the threshold, would the customs officer have any discretion and consider waiving the duty payable on the laptop when I arrived home. She said no, I would "definately, 100%" have to pay GST on the item, and that the customs officer would have no discretion to waive this requirement. I advised her would be happy to pay GST on the laptop when I came home, and asked her to continue processing the refund for me.

She then asked for my passport and ticket/itinerary, which I provided to her. She then went to speak to her supervisor, and was about to enter something into the computer, which I believe may have been a note in the system advising which flight I would be returning home on. As there were now people queing up behind me, she said she would serve them first and I should think carefully before I come back and ask to claim the refund, and if I wanted to go ahead, she would do it for me. :shock:

Needless to say, I decided not to claim and went to get a beer instead.

Did I just catch a bored customs officer on the wrong day, or is this a common scenario when Aussie travellers try to claim tax back for items over the $900 threshold?

 

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

i've done a few laptop gst refunds over the years. get told i will have to pay gst on the way back.

to get around this "problem" i tell them i bought it for my brother working in bkk/sing/kl etc on ebay as it was much cheaper than what he could buy it there, so i wont be bringing it back with me.

i've never been picked out on teh way home so it seems to keep the customs people hapy :mrgreen:

 

[kpc]

You should have gone ahead and claimed the GST back ($122.73). Aust customs will give you a 20% discount (if you declare the item) for depreciation as you have "üsed" your computer whilst away. So your computer is now worth $1080. It is still above the $900 DF threshold, and customs may insist you pay GST on this whole amount ($1080) which is $98.18, or may not. YMMV. Either case you are in front $24.55 or $122.73 if you are lucky and strike a kind officer. But you MUST declare the item on return!

 

[auriga]

Wondering whether having a foreign passport helps in this situation.

My partner (non-Aust passport) claimed the GST on laptop($1800), but there was no mention of having to declare it on the way back.

 

[Postcode]

Just wondering if anyone has recent experiences with this.

Bought a Macbook here for $1050 two weeks ago. Will depart Oz June 26 for two weeks.

Can I take it with me and claim GST + depreciation on departure?
Any consequences on return?
What would the depreciation be?
Or should I just forget it and take my trusty little EEE?

Have tried Customs home page but can't find the answers.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Will]

Just wondering if anyone has recent experiences with this.

Bought a Macbook here for $1050 two weeks ago. Will depart Oz June 26 for two weeks.

Can I take it with me and claim GST + depreciation on departure?
Any consequences on return?
What would the depreciation be?
Or should I just forget it and take my trusty little EEE?

Have tried Customs home page but can't find the answers.

Thanks in advance.

My experiences, and those of my travelling companions, have been consistent with *all* the posted experiences in this thread.

 

[medhead]

Just wondering if anyone has recent experiences with this.

Bought a Macbook here for $1050 two weeks ago. Will depart Oz June 26 for two weeks.

Can I take it with me and claim GST + depreciation on departure?
Any consequences on return?
What would the depreciation be?
Or should I just forget it and take my trusty little EEE?

Have tried Customs home page but can't find the answers.

Thanks in advance.

Of course you can and should claim back the gst. Remember the value when you return is $1050 minus the gst refunded.

I took out a MacBook pro cost $1399. On return 1 month after purchase I was charged gst on a vaule of about $950 or $990.

In my case, the first customs person I spoke to asked me to nominate the value of the laptop. So it is up to the passenger to determine the value.

 

[plum]

As previously mentioned, if u take a gift over $900, get TRS on it, give it to 3rd party o/s, would u still have to declare it at ur destination country?? Do they data match to different countries?

 

[Will]

As previously mentioned, if u take a gift over $900, get TRS on it, give it to 3rd party o/s, would u still have to declare it at ur destination country?? Do they data match to different countries?

No. If you give it to a 3rd party, you will not be re-importing it yourself, therefore you do not need to declare it.

 

[plum]

Thanks for the reply Will.
Is there a limit on TRS amount that you can claim back? From my search, it doesn't look like it......

 

[simongr]

No - I believe that you are assumed to be leaving the country and thus not likely to reimport so you can recover the GST locally.

 

[Will]

would u still have to declare it at ur destination country?? Do they data match to different countries?

Sorry. On re-reading your question, my answer doesn't make sense.
Regardless of GST status in Australia, if any other country requires you to declare items of a certain amount, you must do so, even if you plan to gift it to a 3rd person in that country.

There is no upper limit to TRS claims, AFAIK.

 

[JohnK]

Apologies for dragging up an old thread but I believe my question is relevant.

I want to purchase a Sureshot 8850 GPS and take it overseas with me on next trip in ~2 weeks. I have found that D!ck Smith sells the unit for $299. I am also purchasing a new set of Titleist Golf clubs for ~$880 which I will hopefully have in my posession before I go overseas.

If I understand the tourist refund scheme correctly then I will need to purchase goods >$300 on the one receipt to be eligible for a refund so I will try to purchase the Sureshot 8850 for $1 more.

So given the above scenario am I eligible to receive back the GST paid on these goods? The GST amount is ~$107 so the net value of the goods now is $1,073.

So when I return after 2 weeks the goods would have depreciated by 20% which brings the value down to ~$858. Also on return I will more than likely purchase duty free tobacco and alcohol. The value will go well above the $900 threshold so do I have to pay GST on the whole amount?

Probably not worth to claim back the GST as the tax and duty to be paid on tobacoo and alcohol will far outweigh any savings I have made.

Also is BNE Tourist Fund Scheme office open late at night? I am on a flight close to midnight and will more than likely not get to the airport until ~9:00pm.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

 

[medhead]

I would suggest get a USB stick or memory card with you DSE purchase to get over the $300 mark, you get back the GST for multiple items on the same tax invoice if the total value exceeds $300.

You have 3 components to duty free allowance $900 of good, 250 cancer sticks and 2.25 L of grog. So the cancer sticks and booze are totally separate to the $900.

I'm not sure about the depreciation bit. But you don't have to bring the goods back with you. You might have given some or all of them to a friend. well that's what I did with my laptop in April, well "my brother's" laptop

 

[JohnK]

I would suggest get a USB stick or memory card with you DSE purchase to get over the $300 mark, you get back the GST for multiple items on the same tax invoice if the total value exceeds $300.

Good suggestion. I need a new SD card for for the digital camera as the other one somehow fell out of my wallet.

You have 3 components to duty free allowance $900 of good, 250 cancer sticks and 2.25 L of grog. So the cancer sticks and booze are totally separate to the $900.

Now that is interesting. I thought they were all together.

I'm not sure about the depreciation bit. But you don't have to bring the goods back with you. You might have given some or all of them to a friend. well that's what I did with my laptop in April, well "my brother's" laptop

Is it that easy not to declare the goods on the way back? There is no way that the golf clubs would be worth their purchase price once used. I will be playing ~8 games so the 20% depreciation is fairly accurate.

So perhaps if your statement above is true and they are calculated separately then when I come back the value of the goods is below $900. Or I could simply get a future dated receipt of September 2011 for the golf clubs and claim them on next trip.

Can't resist! Should not be making those sort of suggestions on an open forum.

 

[oz_mark]

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Can your new clubs be taken on board as hand luggage? It is one of the requirements.

 

[JohnK]

Can your new clubs be taken on board as hand luggage? It is one of the requirements.

Sure.

Reading the TRS website earlier it does mention that it is OK to have items in checked luggage if they need to be there. Like storing wine bottles/casks, oversize items etc....

 

[oz_mark]

Sure.

Reading the TRS website earlier it does mention that it is OK to haveitems in checked luggage if it needs to be there. Like storing wine etc....

My understanding was that LAGS were allowed due to the security measures around them.

 

[JohnK]

My understanding was that LAGS were allowed due to the security measures around them.

Hmmm. You may be right. From the customs website.

Goods that cannot be taken on board as hand luggage due to liquid, aerosol and gel restrictions should be packed in your hold luggage. However,if those goods are oversized, for example a case of wine, they must be sighted prior to check-in at the Customs Client Services counter.

And further the following goods are excluded from the TRS

goods which fail to meet airline cabin-size or ship hand luggage restrictions

Oh well I can live without claiming back the GST on golf clubs.

 

[medhead]

My understanding was that LAGS were allowed due to the security measures around them.

I thought I read here that there are also security controls on golf clubs.

If it is possible to get the refund on the clubs and check them. I guess the process is to have the items sighted before checking in by customs.

Edit: they are oversized, so worth a try.