Parcel Tax and GST

[Marko]

One thing that perplexes me is who pays for the Austrailian side freight component ?

How do customs and Austrailia Post get paid to get "free delivery" items to my door? Other than drawing from general taxation revenue, do they charge for this part of the service from China Post, or are distributors capatilising on an Australian taxpayer funded service that is not balanced by an equivalent volume of balancing postal service/trade.

One thing is for certain, it costs money to relocate a $2.43 led magnifying glass 4500km to my door, I just don't know if I am getting it for free or how much I have prepaid as part of my annual tax contribution. Won't be too happy if I have contributed $1000 in general tax revenue to get a $2.43 magnifier.

A user pays system does make sense in some respects, an efficient one makes more sense.

My understanding is that 99% of parcels being delivered by Contractors or Posties have a barcode on them that is scanned upon being received in the morning.
Then scanned as delivered at door or placed in mailbox, those recorded scans are what determine amount of payment from China to Aus. Post.

Marko

 

[Whisp]

As an add on to this, those barcode scanners the posties use also have a camera in them that they use when a parcel is left in a so called "Safe" drop when no one is home to receive it.