The traditional method of duty-free shopping is to visit one of the actual Duty Free stores in the city or at the airport before you leave. Or else to actually shop overseas, on the assumption it will be cheaper there. But there is another option.
You can shop at regular shops in Australia within a month of overseas travel, and claim back the GST at the airport when you leave the country as part of the TRS – Tourist Refund Scheme.
It is actually a bit of a fuss. It’s traumatic enough getting to the airport on time without forgetting something, finding the right queue to join, and getting through customs without losing your favourite scent. Adding a couple of queues to claim back 10% makes you wonder whether it’s worth it. But here’s the current process.
We’ve actually done it twice in the last few years, both times to Canada.
The first time was in 2012. I bought a nice ski jacket in one shop, and a good camera in another. Together it totalled around $1100. The reason I bought the camera in Australia was so I could practice before going overseas. Not that it happened.
At Sydney airport, after going through customs is an area called the Tourist Refund Scheme. Here you present your receipt, and show the goods, and they will refund the GST you had already paid on the goods, with the funds (not cash) going to the account you nominate. I wore the jacket onto the plane, and had the camera as carry-on luggage, to meet requirements.
When we came back to Australia, we did still have to declare the jacket and camera, as they were over $900, as we were still technically subject to GST, as per http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page4646.asp. So I ticked the boxes on the Customs Declaration Form and queued up in the declaration area. I told them the amount, but whether it’s to reward honesty, or it was obviously for personal use and only just over the limit, they let me off.
The second time was in 2014. This time we spent over $2100 kitting out the whole family with ski stuff – hopefully the boys have stopped growing at 6’5″ and it should last them a while. Again there were two queues to join at the airport.
Before checking in, we went to the TRS office at the airport. We were lucky that the Larry Adler shop was registered with the TRS, so they had a special stamp, and our address was written on the receipt. That meant we didn’t have to have everything as carry-on luggage – we could show the receipt, and then go an check-in all our ski clothes/boots/goggles/gloves etc.
But it was annoying. After a good queue at check-in, we then had another queue through customs, and then yet another queue with the TRS again. This queue was much longer. And we really should have registered our receipts online before going to the airport – there were two queues at the TRS, with our long one having to check everyone’s receipts manually. Definitely worth doing as much online as you can.
The good thing was on the return trip. As we were travelling as a family, our $2100 worked out at $700 per person, (under the $900 limit), so we didn’t have to declare anything. Perfect.
Sooo, allow time for queues, but shop in Australia, and register online. It was worth saving $210.
