Australia charges 10 percent GST on imported goods valued at 1000 AUD or less, and overseas sellers above a registration threshold must collect it at checkout rather than leaving it to the border.
Australia used to exempt low value imports from GST, which local retailers argued gave overseas sellers a built in price advantage. The low value goods rule closed that gap by making the seller, the marketplace, or the redeliverer responsible for collecting GST on goods at or under 1000 AUD at the moment of sale.
For buyers the change is mostly invisible when it works. The price at checkout is final, no carrier arrives asking for tax plus a handling fee, and delivery runs at normal speed. The work moved from the border to the seller systems, which is where brands feel it.
An overseas seller whose Australian sales of low value goods exceed 75000 AUD in a twelve month period must register for GST. Registration is a simplified regime for non residents, with quarterly reporting and no input tax credits, designed to be lighter than full domestic registration.
Marketplaces change the answer. When sales run through an electronic distribution platform, the platform operator is usually the party liable for GST on those sales, not the underlying seller. Brands selling both direct and through marketplaces need to track which channel carries which obligation, because double collection and missed collection both happen in that gap.
Parcels over 1000 AUD are taxed at the border in the traditional way, with customs duty where it applies and GST assessed on import. A single order can straddle the models when a cart mixes items or when shipping is treated differently, so checkout logic needs a clear rule for which orders the brand collects on and which it leaves to customs.
Splitting orders to stay under thresholds, or misdeclaring values to dodge the border model, creates real compliance exposure. Australian customs data matching compares declared values against seller records, and the simplified GST regime gives authorities a direct line to the seller.
Show Australian buyers an all in price with GST included, mark the sale correctly on customs documentation so the parcel is not taxed twice, and keep the GST registration number flowing to carriers and marketplaces that need it. Double taxation at delivery is the most common failure, and it comes from paperwork, not rates.
Reconcile monthly. Australian sales, marketplace reports, and GST returns should agree, and small mismatches found early are paperwork corrections, while the same mismatches found in an audit two years later read as a pattern.
Registration, checkout changes, and quarterly filings are real overhead, so a brand with a handful of Australian orders a year may reasonably choose not to chase the market. The mistake is drifting over the threshold unknowingly while sales grow, because liability follows the sales, not the intention.
Track Australian revenue as its own line from the first order. Brands that watch the threshold approach can register on time, price GST in cleanly, and turn what competitors treat as friction into a faster, final price experience for Australian buyers.
Keep reading: How do US brands handle Japan consumption tax on cross border sales?, How do US brands handle Iceland VAT and customs on small orders?, and How do US brands handle Swiss VAT and customs on low-value parcels? cover the nearby cases in this series.
GST is 10 percent on imported goods valued at 1000 AUD or less, collected by the overseas seller at checkout when the seller is registered, rather than at the border.
When its Australian sales of low value goods exceed 75000 AUD over a twelve month period. Sales through marketplaces are usually the platform operator responsibility, so direct and marketplace channels must be tracked separately.
Yes, if the checkout collected GST but the customs paperwork does not show it. Correct documentation with the seller GST details is what tells the border the tax was already paid.
They are taxed at the border under the standard import process, with GST assessed on import and duty where it applies. The checkout collection model only covers goods at or under the threshold.