Fulfilling low value imports to Australia

When shipping a low-value imported good or LVIG from outside Australia to a customer in Australia, you need to include the following on your customs documentation:

• The ABN of the company that is responsible for calculating, collecting and remitting the GST – In this case, Amazon Commercial Services Pty Ltd. The ABN that you have to include in the documents is 30 616 935 623.
• Details on the products being sent – Description, quantity, price and GST per item. You can find this information on the Order Confirmation page, Order Reports, and Orders API of Marketplace Web Services.
• An item level GST-paid exemption code to identify that GST has been paid.

This information will be required by your carrier to be able to import your shipments into Australia. Items shipped from outside of Australia that do not include the required customs documentation and that have not had GST collected may be held up at customs and may be seized, incur delays, or be subject to fines or other consequences. In addition, if the customer does not receive their order, you may not be paid for the sale.

How do I determine if my product is Low Value?

Items that have a customs value of $1,000 AU or less are considered LVIG. The customs value is calculated considering the product price without GST, or any delivery or packaging charges.

Nevertheless, please note that the GST will be calculated on the product price including delivery and packaging charges.

You must set up product prices, delivery, and packaging charges inclusive of GST.

Example. A product has a seller set price of $1,100.00 AU (GST Inclusive) and a delivery charge of $5.50 AU (GST Inclusive).

Firstly, in order to determine whether the product is LVIG, we must calculate the customs value by removing the GST from the product price and ignoring the delivery charge.

($1,100/1.1)=$1,000

If the customs value of the product without GST is $1,000 AU or less, the product is LVIG subject to LVIG GST (see Frequently Asked Questions on Low Value Imports GST). If the customs value is greater than $1,000 AU, the product is not LVIG. Whilst LVIG GST will not apply, other duties and import charges apply to products over $1,000 AU, and other documentation and information will be required.

Secondly, in order to calculate the GST payable on the product, we need to divide the total amount payable by the customer (i.e. product price plus delivery charges by 11:

($1,105.50/11)=$100.50