Australia charges 10 percent GST on low-value imported goods sold to consumers, and offshore sellers above the registration threshold must collect it at checkout, not leave it to the border.
Australia moved GST collection for low-value imports away from the border and onto the seller. When a consumer buys goods worth 1,000 Australian dollars or less from an offshore seller, GST is charged as part of the checkout price, the same way domestic Australian sales are taxed. Nothing extra is collected on delivery for compliant sales, which keeps parcels moving.
The model depends on information flowing with the parcel. The seller's registration details and the fact that GST was paid must reach the carrier and customs systems, so the goods are not taxed twice. When that data chain breaks, consumers get double charged and sellers get the support tickets. Accuracy in the paperwork matters as much as collecting the tax itself.
Registration turns on turnover, not on where you are based. Offshore sellers whose Australian consumer sales exceed 75,000 Australian dollars in a rolling 12 month period must register. Marketplaces and electronic distribution platforms can bear the obligation instead of the underlying seller, which is why brands selling both direct and through marketplaces need to know exactly who is collecting on each channel.
Below the threshold, registration is optional, and many smaller brands sell through marketplaces precisely so the platform carries the compliance. The trap is growth: a brand that crosses the threshold mid-year becomes liable from that point, and discovering it a year late means back payments plus penalties. Track Australian turnover monthly, not at tax season.
GST should appear as part of the price the consumer pays, with receipts that show the amount in Australian dollars and identify that GST was included on low-value goods. Product pages that advertise one price and add an unexplained tax line at checkout convert badly and confuse customers who are used to tax-inclusive pricing in Australia.
Currency handling deserves care. The 1,000 dollar threshold and the tax itself are Australian dollar concepts, so your checkout logic needs a reliable conversion at the time of sale. Goods above the threshold follow the older route: GST, duty, and charges are assessed at the border instead. One catalog can therefore produce two tax treatments depending on basket size, and your flows should say so plainly.
Returns are where low-value GST gets untidy. If a consumer returns goods, the refund should unwind the GST consistently, and your reporting needs to match the adjustment in the period it happens. Refunds processed casually, tax included one month and excluded the next, create reconciliation gaps that are painful to explain later.
Consignment splitting is another edge. Orders deliberately split to stay under thresholds, or combined shipments that push a parcel over 1,000 dollars, change the treatment. Give your warehouse and your checkout the same rules, in writing, so the parcel that arrives matches the tax story told at purchase.
Start by deciding channel responsibility: direct site, each marketplace, and any redeliverer, with the collecting party named for each. Register when your turnover approaches the threshold, configure checkout for tax-inclusive Australian pricing, and pass registration data to your carriers on every label.
Then audit quarterly with real orders. Place test purchases, follow the parcels, and confirm no second GST charge appears at delivery. Australia's system works smoothly for brands that set it up once and check it regularly. It punishes brands that assume the border will sort it out, because under this model the border expects you to have sorted it already.
GST applies at different points depending on value. Goods worth 1,000 Australian dollars or less sold by a registered offshore seller are taxed at checkout. Higher value goods are generally taxed at the border along with any duty.
When its sales to Australian consumers exceed 75,000 Australian dollars over a rolling 12 month period. Marketplaces may carry the obligation for sales made through them, so confirm responsibility channel by channel.
They should not be, when the seller collected GST at sale and the registration details flow correctly to the carrier and customs. Double charging usually means the data chain broke, not that the tax is owed twice.
Refund the GST with the goods price and record the adjustment in your GST reporting for the period the refund occurs. Consistent treatment matters more than the specific workflow, as long as checkout, refunds, and filings agree.