--- Jane Partridge <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Helene > Gannac <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes > >What you have to do is increase the postage by 10% to cover the GST. > So, > >instead of putting $1,65 on a letter, for instance, you have to put > $1,65 > >plus 16 cents (10% extra to cover the GST). > > But surely there are different rates anyway for international and local > mail, so any tax will be calculated in the amount to pay, regardless > what is on the front of a valid stamp (other than the price)? I assume > the idea behind all this is for the machinery to distinguish between the > two so that the powers that be can calculate how much has to be paid in > tax, and how much is exempt. > > -- > Jane Partridge
No, Jane, the idea behind all that is that all GST (equivalent to VAT) for goods and services is included in the price *in* Australia. We never pay more than what is stated, the GST is already included in any price, whether in a shop or at the restaurant.So the face value of a domestic stamp is postage including GST. However, exports do not attract GST, so someone with a twisted mind decided that because international letters and parcels were going overseas, we shouldn't pay GST on the stamps, which are also going overseas when they are stuck on the envelopes...:-), and the international stamp is supposed to be postage value without GST. At the end of the year, the PO, and every other poor shopkeeper, restaurateur, company manager, etc, has to calculate how much GST they charged people, and send their forms to the Government as part of the income tax process. So the PO decided that there would be stamps for domestic consumption taxed with GST (means 50c postage instead of 45 cents to start with, as the GST was passed down to the consumer), but international stamps would remain the same (not for very long, unfortunately...), as the PO didn't have to pay GST to the Government for those. So, then, they claimed that if we used domestic stamps on international envelopes, the PO would have to pay more GST to the Government when they shouldn't!!! To me, it seems a ridiculous statement, since they pass on the cost to the consumer, but go figure.... Anyway, there was a huge outcry at the time by all stamps collectors who screamed blue murder at the idea of not being able to send unusual stamps wherever they wanted to (I was one of them writing to the Postmaster and to the Minister), so in the end, they decided that people could use any stamps, provided they made up the 10% GST by adding to the official postage. So, for instance, if you use a $1.00 international stamp plus a 65 cents domestic stamp to send a letter to France, you have to add on 10% of 65 cents or just over it if you can't just make it. Ridiculous, isn't it? But that's little Johnny and his comrades for you!! Helene, the froggy from Melbourne, where Xmas decorations hace already crept up everywhere... Find local movie times and trailers on Yahoo! Movies. http://au.movies.yahoo.com To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
