Kogan Blog
Myer Launches Online Store to Dodge GST
Posted on .As you may remember, when Bernie Brooks announced that by February Myer will open an online store based in Shenzhen to evade GST, we announced that we thought he was bluffing.
We said if they end up doing this, and keep the store open for three months, we’ll post a link to the store on our site.
We were skeptical because:
- Myer is a public company and did not disclose the plan to their shareholders prior to Bernie’s announcement to a private group (not via the ASX)
- It may contravene the “Anti-avoidance provision” (Division 165) of the GST Act which states:
- "If the dominant purpose or principal effect of a scheme is to give an entity such a benefit, the Commissioner may negate the benefit an entity gets from the scheme by declaring how much GST or refund would have been payable, and when it would have been payable, apart from the scheme."
Yesterday, on the last day of February, Myer launched their online store based in Hong Kong. We noticed that they established a new company, applied for a trademark, and bought some domain names in the days leading up to the launch. We also noticed some initial teething issues with the site.
Nonetheless, we were wrong and are happy to eat humble pie on this one. Here’s a link to their store, which we are happy to provide (even though it hasn’t yet been operational for three months) as promised:
What are your thoughts on their new site?
Do you think they rushed to get this out by the end of February so Bernie could keep his word?
Are these the sort of prices and service you expect from an online store?