Australia may have some tax problems but some of the population is trying
very hard to uphold the tradition of excellence in alcohol consumption. I
saw on the news that a women charged with drunk driving had a blood alcohol
level of 0.4 percent. That was reported to be 8 times the legal limit. Since
most people would be dead at 0.5 percent, the report concluded that the lady
must be a seasoned consumer. If she has some Oly equipment it might be a
good time to make a deal. /jim
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of andrew fildes
Sent: Saturday, August 16, 2003 5:34 PM
To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [OM] Cheap macro twin flash
You don't get a much smaller domestic supply than Australia and we
also have a GST (VAT) tax at 10%. However we are much less aware of
it than the British because it is generally embedded in costs. Also,
it does not apply to private sales of used goods unless you exceed
certain levels of turnover. The general level of taxation in the US
is extremely low but the VAT/GST tax does replace all sales taxes and
a number of other duties and excises. For instance, if I buy
something new from the US (as I just did) then a 10 0ST is levied at
point of entry. This is waived on goods worth less than $1000 if they
come in by postal parcel - however those nice folks at FedEx and
similar companies will ensure that I pay the tax so that they can
also charge me a brokerage fee (Evil Spawn).
The European system is a tad more rigorous I think and the tax more
visible but the Canadians have the most brutal system of all I
suspect with GST levied on anything that crosses the border and
cumulative state and federal GST. Very nasty.
I suspect that the real reasons are cultural - that the market is
traditionally higher, that they tend to buy locally at higher cost
and that used goods hold value better because they aren't quite so
desperately consumerist as the rest of us!
AndrewF
>Also, the larger pool of used gear outside the EU is subject to
>confiscatory (by US standards, at least) duties, taxes, handling
>charges, etc., so the prices you and I see on US, CA and AU *Bay are
>quite a bit less than what EU buyers actually pay. That lack of
>price competition from overseas supports higher domestic prices for
>the smaller domestic supply.
>
>Moose
>
>Chris Barker wrote:
>
>>I suppose because people will pay higher prices Dan. I think that
>>the cost of living is generally higher here than in the UK.
>>Certainly there is sales tax (VAT at 17.5%) has to be added to most
>>goods.
>>
>>Chris
>>
>>On Saturday, Aug 16, 2003, at 10:42 Europe/London, Danrich wrote:
>>
>>Chris, why is the UK market for OM higher, less competition for the
seller?
>>
>
>
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