The SMH sums it up well today. Billionaires take a turn at initiating 'brand' damage January 5, 2011 Retailers have deeply misread the mood of the moment.(What an understatement!)
Not only do Lew/Brookes/Harvey not have community support, they have managed to offside the federal government - admittedly not always a bad thing, but in this case unlikely to help their cause. Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten was quick to stomp on the claims with some hard evidence, saying that only 3 per cent of all retail sales come from online, and barely $1 in every $5 of those is to an overseas seller.
If those numbers are right, the GST ''leakage'' is probably about $100-150 million on Australia's $240 billion a year in total retail sales.
Given that Tax Office chief Michael D'Ascenzo's team has never been shy about trying to get their claws into revenue they believe is escaping the net, if the retailers' arguments held water then D'Ascenzo would be on their side. But so far he has not been sighted on the issue.
Retail is changing because the web has dramatically altered how we live. The billionaires need to come to terms with the fact that most Australians do not own yachts in the Mediterranean, racehorses, holiday homes the size of small suburbs, or have accountants and lawyers who can structure our lives to minimise tax.
Instead, most are just trying to get the most from their after-tax dollars, many of them paying off increasingly painful mortgages while clearly concerned that resources booms and near-full employment will not last forever.
