Oz buyers who paid no tax?

O

onebaldbloke

Inspired
Are there any Oz buyers out there who have official paperwork provided by our dear friends in Customs saying that the Axe is exempt from Tax due to it being a "Computer", not an "Amplifier"?

Ta,
Bob.
 
Not me - I remember when i imported my Ultra that the whole classification process was quite confusing & vague.
Looks like i picked the wrong category 'cause i paid AU$384.33 tax.
 
I posted on this in another thread.
You won't get it through without paying GST because it costs over $1000.
But, you can avoid duty. I only paid GST and the customs processing fee.
According to the customs import schedule, there's really nothing that completely describes the Axe-Fx.
The closest I found was "synthesiser" - which is exempt from duty.
For the form B374 customs import declaration, the tariff classification for this is 92071000 and the Stat Code is 47.
 
No, I'm not getting another one!!
Though it would be so cool to leave one in the home studio rack permanently.........

Just wondering - the above "synth" stuff is interesting.
 
Hello,

I purchased an ultra about 1 month ago and used the tariff info as described by SOULARFLAIR.. No duty as per( free trade agreement), just the 10% gst and customs processing fee. All up $290 paid to customs.

Be aware that the oz customs are pretty slack with the formula they use to calculate gst, duty etc.. In my situation they just added 10% to my transaction total ( bank account ) which was completely incorrect as that also included a 3% credit card fee!!
 
When I ordered mine I asked fractal nicely to mark it as a Signal Processor (which i believe incurs no duties other than gst). I told them why I wanted it marked as that. They came back to me saying "dont worry we've shipped lots to Australia"

It a arrived being marked as Audio Electronics Amplifier and I had to pay around $400 in total. I wasnt very happy bout that :(
 
Okay, mine arrived yesterday.
It was described as a processor on the customs declaration so I put it as Musicala Instruments - other. This meant paying no duty.

The costs were:
Axe FX Ultra $2340.xx
Bank Fee's $23.xx
Customs (incl $48.95 processing) $284.xx

Total: $2650 give or take a couple of $.

Now, onto important stuff, trying to get out of work early to start figuring it out!
 
Mine arrived today (WOOOHOOO!) and I paid GST and $48.45 Customs processing only, no duty.
I claimed preference as an importer under the AUSFTA (Australia-US Free Trade Agreement). You need to download a second N10 form from the Customs website (not the standard postal one they send you when your package arrives) and send in BOTH. You don't strictly need to to provide a Certificate of Origin, but you do need to be able to produce evidence that the Axe complies with AUSFTA origin rules if demanded by Customs in the future. I asked Fractal for one, and they were only able to proivide a NAFTA Certificate of Origin, which is not the same thing, so I decided no to send it in. It worked anyway.

The AxeFX definitely qualifies for preferential treatment under the AUSFTA and it would be helpful to Australian buyers if someone at Fractal could read up the rules, then produce a Certificate of Origin under AUSFTA and claim preferential status as the exporter on their shipping docs. Then it would be a breeze for OZ buyers.
 
I'm amazed that this is such a 'hit & miss' affair.
I should be happy for those who got away without paying excess duties/taxes.
I was told that it didn't qualify for the FTA because it wasn't 100% MIA.
 
I doesn't actually need to be 100% made in US. There are some ruiles about undergoing a change of tariff classification i.e. changes from being various electronic components, electrical and mechanical components with their own individual classifications to being to complete processor, with its own classification. There is also something about the labour cost input and there are a couple of methods for calulating compliance. I'm sure at Fractal they could sit down and go through the "inputs", work it out and produce a AUSFTA Certificate of Origin.

Whether they would think it worth the time for irregular private imports, I don't know, maybe they would wait until they have a distributor in place. It seems to me simplest to jsut classify it as a "computer processor", which someone else suggested is duty free regardless. Seems more fitting than "amplifier", since it isn't an amp. Maybe someone should bring it up with Cliff. Probably not me, sorry, since I've already received mine!
 
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