Taxes and International Shipping from Australia

[wotnow]

Hi Still struggling along with the shipping module. I have installed ozpost and have read the australia post International Post Charges Easy Guide (if only). I am still reading the zen cart ebook and have read alot of the posts in this forum. I rang the Australian Taxation Office and they informed me that goods exported from Australia and paid for within 60 days do not incur GST. Therefore as my goods (beads) are inclusive of GST, I am assuming that I would only have to set up Zone Rates for both shipping and tax?

I am also a little confused about the handling fees in oz post?

Thanks in advance for any help given.

[RodG]

Hi Still struggling along with the shipping module.
I have installed ozpost

Strangely, most others don't seem to find using the ozpost module a struggle at all.

have read the australia post International Post Charges Easy Guide

The nice thing about the ozpost module is that you don't have to worry about the guide. The module takes care of everything important.
All YOU have to do is enter valid weights and dimensions for your products. Anything more than that then you are overcomplicating things.

I am still reading the zen cart ebook

Which will almost certainly tell you *nothing* about the ozpost module.

and have read alot of the posts in this forum.

I assume that somewhere in this post of your you are going to get around to actually explaining what your problem is?

I rang the Australian Taxation Office and they informed me that goods exported from Australia and paid for within 60 days do not incur GST.

If you are a GST registered business you should already have known that. If you are not registered for GST then it is totally irrelevant.

I'm still waiting to see how this relates to whatever problem it is that you are having with the ozpost module.

Therefore as my goods (beads) are inclusive of GST,

Wow, you have a AU$50,000 per year turnover selling beads? I think I'm in the wrong business. When you do finally sort out all of the issues you have with the ozpost module perhaps you'd care to consider giving the author a small donation - Your income is 5x greater than his.

Oh, and if you AREN'T making this level of sales then why the heck did you register to become an unpaid tax collector? (because that is the only thing you achieve by needlessly registering).

I am assuming that I would only have to set up Zone Rates for both shipping and tax?

The ozpost module will correcly calculate the GST portion of any shipping charges where relevent. To do this you only have to indicate whether you are registered for GST or not in the ozpost module settings.

The zencart tax zones/rates settings are for products only (not shipping).

I am also a little confused about the handling fees in oz post?

I'm not sure how this can confuse you. If the shipping cost for product "a" is $5.00 (actual cost) and you wish to charge $10.00 then you just add $5.00 as a handling charge.
If you wish to charge your customer actual cost only, then the handling charge will needs to be set to $0.00.

Most businesses add a small handling charge to cover the cost of packing materials (eg, padded pags ~$1.00ea), not to mention the time and costs of actually taking the parcels to the post office.

The ozpost module supports a range of different handling charges based on the methods being used. For example, it makes sense to have a higher handling charge for express or insured parcels than for regular parcels simply because these incur additional paperwork to be filled.
Overseas parcels may require additional packaging compared to a local delivery - This can/should be incorporated into the handling charge(s).

Anyway, after all this, you still haven't stated what your actual problem is (other than being confused) and you can avoid most, if not all of this confusion with less reading and more experimenting.

[wotnow]

Sir if you read what i've asked, you would see that it is the shipping module that i was struggling with. I can abide your arrogance and bad manners if you would only be of some use to me other than using this space to vent your bitter misogynist rubbish at me. Its no wonder you earn so little money , you are so far unable to actually read my request properly despite your somewhat sophomore habit of quoting me as you attempt to blunder your way through your own twisted self therapy. I am a web developer not a counsellor but it feels to me that you need one. I only hope your attempts at seeking professional help are more successful than mine.

[RodG]

Sir if you read what i've asked, you would see that it is the shipping module that i was struggling with.

Shipping and taxes, but lets not be pedantic.

I can abide your arrogance

My, how kind of you, but frankly, I couldn't care less.

and bad manners

I fart in public too.

if you would only be of some use

I have answered all of your questions, where possible, and along the way I tried to give you a bit of personal advice. What more can I do for you?

to me other than using this space to vent your bitter misogynist rubbish

I have nothing against women or girls. In fact I married one.

Furthermore, for some reason or another I thought you were a guy (sorry. I think).

It is beyond me to inquire whether it is 'that time of month'

at me. Its no wonder you earn so little money ,

Perhaps my earnings wouldn't be so low if I charged for my software.. Hmmm, lets see, 'ozpost' currently ~1300 downloads, with an average of ~800 stores using it in any given month - I reckon if I charge each store $5.00 per month I'd lose about 300 of these, that will still give me ~$2500p/m or ~$18,000.00 p/a additional income though.
Now if only I could charge for my support time, both in the forums and via email I could, in theory be on a very healthy income, but I have opted to give it away, along with free support. I think I deserve a little more respect than to be called an "arrogant misogynist" with "sophomore habits" attempting to "blunder" my way through my own "twisted self therapy".

Besides, when did you decide it was time to resort to such juvenile name calling.

Seriously though, I didn't want to embarrass you, but I've set up and worked on dozens of Aussie zencarts, and with the exception of about 2 or 3 of them none of the others have been in the $50,000pa turnover bracket where GST registration is required, and having run my own business(es) since long before the inception of GST I have a bit of experience in this area too.

Comments that you have made and questions you have asked made me suspect that you may be one of the 1000's of small businesses that has needlessly (and foolishly) registered for GST when there is/was no need to do so.

This was also perfectly relevant to your question(s), because if you weren't registered for GST then there really isn't any point in trying to explain to you how the ozpost module handles this.

you are so far unable to actually read my request properly

Apparently not. I've also just re-read your message and I am sorry to say that I still have no idea what your *actual* problem is, other than "Still struggling along with the shipping module" and "also a little confused about the handling fees".

I'd swear blind that I explained the handling fees in a manner that a two year old could understand. It seems I'm wrong, so I'm just dying to see how someone else is going to explain it to you any better.

As for being confused ... I can honestly say the same. This isn't the first time you've given me c r a p when trying to help you, so I'm confused as to why I'm still willing to continue to waste my time.

despite your somewhat sophomore habit of quoting me

I do this for several reasons - Not just with you, but with all of my e-posts. I'd like to train others to do the same if I could, but far too many people have a hard enough time just trying to post a message that I don't wish to discourage them further by explaining that good communication involves more than typing monologues.

The purpose of quoting, which is fully supported by all email programs and most web forums, is there for a reason. The reason isn't so that people can simply requote entire messages and then add an 'I agree' at the end, or worse, go off on a monologue that usually deviates from the key points (as you have done, albeit, without any quotes or other references to let anyone know what you are talking about)), the quote functions are to enable people to have a 'conversation' whereby the original text remains intact enough to know what the response relates to, and also to avoid the need for paraphrasing, which leads to 'I didn't say' that type arguments.

The fact that you seemingly can't grasp this concept, and see it as a 'sophomore habit' (I must admit that I'm not entirely sure what you mean by this, and equally sure that you have no intention to enlighten me) tells me that you simply find it 'strange and unusual' and you fear it. It shows a huge lack of experience on your part. Not that there is anything wrong with that, we were all inexperienced at some stage. Remember that you raised this issue. I'm simply giving you an explanation. Don't shoot the messenger.

as you attempt to blunder your way through your own twisted self therapy.

Hey, this is much more fun and so much cheaper than a therapist. I can play this game until you get so mad at me you'll take you ball and go home.

I am a web developer

Well, good for you.. Everyone is a web developer these days, after all, thanks to the efforts of people like the zencart team only a small amount of knowledge is actually required. The 'hard' stuff is all done with pre-written modules, downloadable templates, WYSIWYG editors and the like.

No offense to the *real* developers, those that work with (ASP, PHP, SQL, etc) without a GUI to do all the work.

Please, don't try to convince me of skills you don't have. Your history of forum posts reveals your skill level quite clearly.

not a counsellor but it feels to me that you need one.

That's what I used to think, but then I thought why spend $200 p/h telling a shrink how good I am when I can come here and do it for nothing.

<aaaahhhh... that feels good>

I only hope your attempts at seeking professional help are more successful than mine.

Sorry chum, errr, miss , I really hate to tell you this (Nah... I'm actually enjoying it) - but you've pretty much screwed yourself (again), because seriously, if *I* can't help you with any problems that you are having with the ozpost shipping module (and how it deals with GST) then you will need to find someone far less knowledgeable to help. This isn't arrogance, just a statement of fact.

Oh, and I really don't appreciate being called an "arrogant misogynist" with "sophomore habits" attempting to "blunder" my way through my own "twisted self therapy". An apology is expected.

Rod

[ozprodrivers]

Hi Still struggling along with the shipping module. I have installed ozpost and have read the australia post International Post Charges Easy Guide (if only). I am still reading the zen cart ebook and have read alot of the posts in this forum. I rang the Australian Taxation Office and they informed me that goods exported from Australia and paid for within 60 days do not incur GST. Therefore as my goods (beads) are inclusive of GST, I am assuming that I would only have to set up Zone Rates for both shipping and tax?

I am also a little confused about the handling fees in oz post?

Thanks in advance for any help given.

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Hello
You just need to set up Zencart so that it senses off the purchases address. If the order is outside of Australia then Zencart will rate the goods GST exclusive. You will then pick this up in your Bas statement as sales are non GST, export etc.

With regards to ozpost module let RodG come in and set it up for you. give him a kiss he looks like he needs it!!
Everything will work out fine.

Word of warning. There are lots of scams bad credit cards and paypal scams floating around. Whilst it is nice to sell off shore remember Charge Back from the banks or merchants can be a disaster for any trader. Have a good think about whether this is where your market exposure is going to be.

Cheers

Dave

[wotnow]

Thanks for that Dave. I myself know nothing about GST but my client is registered. I think she knows very little about it herself as she has just bought the business.

[frank18]

If you set it up as Dave suggested, your client can't go wrong, regardless of GST knowledge