Did you know you can claim back your GST before you travel overseas? The TRS (Tourist Refund Scheme) allows travellers to claim tax back when departing Australia. There is a bit of a process to follow but the short of it is...
- Purchase goods worth $300 or more from a single retailer within 60 days of departure
- Present Tax Invoices, travel details, and your passport at the TRS Claim Office
- Get your 10% GST back, normally within 30 days
For a full list of what can and can’t be claimed, see the ATO or ABF websites.
Tax Invoice Requirements
The Tax Invoices you show need to have the Retailers ABN, date of purchase, a short description per item, amount of tax paid, and the total amount. Our receipts carry all of this info as standard.
If the purchase is over $1000, your personal details as per your passport must be on the receipt. These details need to be on receipt if you are shopping instore and online. If we are shipping to your business address, let us know and we can change the receipt to have your your name and home address on there.
NEW: The TRS App
TRS has introduced an App that makes the process really streamlined and easy. It is available on both iPhone and Android. The App considerably reduces the amount of time and paperwork needed to make a claim. Just get onto the App Store and search TRS and it is the first App that comes up.
In the app there are 3 pages of details you will need to enter:
- Details about yourself (Passport number, departure date etc.) Passport Number & Issuing Country
- Departure date
- The tax invoice details of what you wish to claim (ABN, type of goods, tax paid etc.) ABN of the retailer including invoice number/date, type of goods, amount of tax paid & how you wish to receive payment
The information you enter will be stored in a QR code, you can then save it, screenshot it, or print it. Then present this QR code to the TRS officer along with the Tax Invoice(s) and Flight/Identity information.
For more information about the TRS App, visit the ABF’s TRS App help page.
Where to go to claim your TRS refund?
TRS is like Duty Free and requires you to carry the item onboard and claim after checking in and clearing security. Finding the TRS location past security is easy, look for the signs and the large queue. If you use the TRS app and have all of your details/documents ready, the express lanes move pretty quickly. For bigger items like your new snowboard obviously you are not going to take these onboard with you. These goods need to be sighted before checking your bags in and clearing security at the Customs office/TRS counter. This includes snowboards or other oversized goods. The Customs officer will stamp/sign your Tax invoice, then you are free to check your bags in. If you only have items to claim in your check-in baggage, you shouldn’t have to go through the process again after security. Locations of the TRS counter's are here...
- Melbourne: ABF Office, T2 Arrivals Terminal (Underneath QANTAS Departures)
- Sydney: ABF Office, T1 Arrivals Terminal (Near central glass lifts)
- Brisbane: ABF Client Services Office, Level 1 International Terminal
The claim must be made at the airport which you are clearing immigration and flying internationally out of. If you are flying domestic prior to your international flight and travelling with oversized gear, the procedure becomes quite complicated. In such a case, you need to have your bags tagged only to the airport you are clearing immigration, then collect your bags, have the goods sighted and then re-check them to your destination.
Returning to Australia
There are limitations on the value of items you can bring back to the country after claiming GST back on them. If the value of those items exceeds $900 per passenger ($450 per passenger under 18) of your travel party then they must be declared on re-entering and may be subject to GST charges.
See the ABF Website for more on the Duty-Free Concessions and please ask one of our staff if you need more details
