Australia Begins New Nationwide Tax

World travelers accustomed to paying value added taxes (VAT) on purchases in Europe and elsewhere can add another country to their list: Australia.

Since July 1, the host country for this year’s Olympics has been imposing the 10% tax, which it calls a goods and services tax (GST), on prices for hotel rooms, transportation, meals and many other items. Unlike sales tax in the U.S., it is included in prices rather than added on at the register. The nationwide tax replaces a patchwork of local taxes--some higher, some lower. Luxury taxes, for instance, ran 20% on some items; now they’re half that. The bed tax in Sydney was 5%; now it’s 10%.

For visitors to Australia, the main impact of the new system is that, as in Europe, they can get the tax refunded on major purchases--a minimum of $300 Australian, or about $195 U.S. They must ask the retailer for a tax invoice when they buy the item and present it, along with the item, at a Tourist Refund Scheme booth at the airport when leaving Australia. For details, call the Australian Customs Service at 011-61-2-9213-2000 or visit the Internet site https://www.2000.australia.com.

Package tours bought in advance for trips beginning after July 1 already included the GST. “A lot of suppliers are eating [the tax] for now,” keeping prices the same, reports Barbara Schorer, marketing coordinator for wholesaler Inta-Aussie Tours in Los Angeles. Also, the Australian dollar has lost more than 11% of its value against the U.S. dollar in the last year, more than offsetting the GST.