SENDING PERSONAL EFFECTS LATER ON

[James Wilkinson]

Hello,

I am here in Australia on a 482 VISA and would like to have some things sent to me from the UK.

It's just a few jumpers, which originally would have been valued at around $1000-1300, but they are all now worn so would be worth much less. 

I don't really have enough to send via Sevenseas, which is what I did originally, and so I'm just going to arrange for them to be sent via a courier company like DHL.

My challenge is that I've been in Australia for coming on for two years. Will I get charged tax on these items when they arrive? Or can I just tell the courier company that the value is less than $1,000 and therefore would they be considered an import of less than $1,000?

Cheers,

James 

Edited May 5, 2021 by James Wilkinson
typo

[Ken]

On 05/05/2021 at 17:33, James Wilkinson said:

Hello,

I am here in Australia on a 482 VISA and would like to have some things sent to me from the UK.

It's just a few jumpers, which originally would have been valued at around $1000-1300, but they are all now worn so would be worth much less. 

I don't really have enough to send via Sevenseas, which is what I did originally, and so I'm just going to arrange for them to be sent via a courier company like DHL.

My challenge is that I've been in Australia for coming on for two years. Will I get charged tax on these items when they arrive? Or can I just tell the courier company that the value is less than $1,000 and therefore would they be considered an import of less than $1,000?

Cheers,

James 

The Border Force website clearly states "you cannot use the UPE concession if you arrange to import your personal effects months after you arrive in Australia". The UPE (Unaccompanied Personal Effects) concession is what allows you to import your possessions tax free when you emigrate.

However you should still be able to import the goods tax free as the value is less than $1,000. Vendors of low value items (say if you bought the goods on eBay) do have to charge GST even though the goods are worth less than $1,000 but it doesn't appear to apply to personal imports. I don't know how they tell the difference though!