Whingeing retail billionaires and the 10% GST
I must have taken an extra dose of grumpy old man pills this morning, as I just read:
Fury at online GST loophole Mathew Murphy December 20, 2010
RETAIL heavyweights have attacked a government inquiry into the industry as a further sign of inaction, saying GST and duty loopholes favouring overseas retailers are ''lunacy''.
The retail billionaires Solomon Lew and Gerry Harvey yesterday revealed they are considering mounting a campaign against the government over what they claim is an uneven playing field. Under existing tax arrangements, overseas retailers are able to offer purchases under $1000 online without attaching GST.
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Well, in my "Fury" of reading what these billionaires are complaining about, I decided to shoot off a letter to the editor of the herald-sun Melbourne this morning. I do ramble on about a few loosely linked subjects that have been frustrating me recently, but my anger is directed mainly at retail billionaire Gerry Harvey, and this 10% GST.
============ To heraldsun.com.au
Gerry Harvey (Harvey Norman) says he is loosing money because people are shopping on line from overseas, in order to save the 10% GST. Wrong Gerry. It is not about the 10%. It is about greed. Why pay sometimes two to three times the price here, when you can get it from the US or China, for a third of the price. Retailers simply have to be more competitive.
And Australia Post is going broke because ordinary mail is being overtaken by email. What about all the packages that are being delivered from overseas that Gerry Harvey keeps telling us about. You can't have it both ways.
And why do I have to line up in a queue to post a yellow bag that won't fit into the toy timber yellow box out the front of the Post Office. I feel like getting at it with a small carpenters saw, and cutting the slot out so that it will fit more than just a letter.
On the 22nd of November, Australia Post hit us with a $9 security surcharge for packages to the US that weight over 453 grams. When asked what they do for this fee, they won't tell us, because it's a secret.
Don McKenzie Tullamarine.
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