Guides · Selling into Australia
Import GST, duty and logistics for goods entering Australia
Everything that happens at the border, in the order it happens: how customs value is set, when duty applies, how import GST is calculated, who gets to claim it back, and how the deferred GST scheme stops you paying it at the wharf at all.
The short version
- Import GST is 10% of the value of the taxable importation: customs value plus duty plus international transport and insurance.
- Duty is generally 5% but is often zero under Australia's free trade agreements, including those with China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Korea, Singapore and New Zealand.
- Only the importer of record can claim the import GST back, and only through a standard GST registration. Get the importer wrong and the credit is lost.
- The deferred GST scheme lets a monthly-lodging importer report import GST on the BAS instead of paying it before release.
Two thresholds, two regimes
A consignment with a customs value of A$1,000 or less is a low-value import: no duty or GST is collected at the border, and GST is instead collected on the sale by whoever the law treats as the supplier. Above A$1,000, the border takes over: a full import declaration, duty if any, and GST calculated on the landed value before the goods are released.
The credit that goes missing
Import GST is only a cost if nobody can claim it. A seller registered under the standard GST system who is named as importer of record claims it as an input tax credit on the next BAS. A seller on simplified registration, or a seller who let the freight forwarder or a 3PL be the importer, has paid 10% of their landed cost with no way back.
Common questions
- How is import GST calculated in Australia?
- At 10% of the value of the taxable importation, which is the customs value of the goods plus any customs duty plus the cost of international transport and insurance. Customs value is normally the price paid, converted at the exchange rate on the day of export.
- Who can claim import GST back?
- The entity named as importer of record on the import declaration, provided it is registered for GST under the standard system and imported the goods for its enterprise. A simplified GST registration cannot claim it.
- What is the deferred GST scheme?
- An ATO scheme that lets approved importers who lodge monthly defer the import GST from the point of entry to their BAS, where it is reported and, for a fully creditable import, offset in the same statement. It removes the cash-flow hit without changing the amount.
The articles under this question
2 articles, newest first. Each answers one question.
What is the deferred GST scheme? How importers stop paying at the wharf
27 August 2026
Approved importers stop paying 10% at the border. The GST moves onto the monthly BAS, where the credit offsets it in the same stat…
Read →Who gets the import GST back? The importer of record, explained
27 August 2026
The GST credit for the 10% paid at the border follows the customs entry, not the invoice. If it names someone else as importer, th…
Read →Try it on your numbers: Import duty & GST estimator
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