Australia Tax is a phrase applied to the generally higher prices in Australia of goods and services than equivalent costs in comparative overseas nations such as the United States. This is particularly the case for video games, [1] computer hardware, and software but may extend to non-technological items such as cars, designer clothing and banking services. [2] [3] Companies selling non-physical products which are not subject to the rent and labour of a traditional retail outlet have been particularly criticised. [4] Some prices differences can be as much as 88%. [5]
The phrase was first used by Ed Husic, a federal member of parliament, who brought the issue up in the chamber and subsequently advocated for an inquiry into the problem. [6] The cost of digital goods was the subject of an inquiry by the Australian government in 2013. [7]
In 2013, the cost of Adobe Systems' Creative Suite 6 Master Collection in Australia was much higher than that of the United States equivalent, retailing at AU$4,334 in comparison to US$2,599 in the United States, although the Australian and U.S. dollars were almost at par. [8] ). It was calculated at the time that it was cheaper to fly to the United States, purchase a copy of the software, and fly back to Australia. [9] In May 2013, the Adobe Creative Cloud service was launched, offering access to the Creative Suite software on a subscription basis. Australian prices initially were set to AU$62.99 per month in comparison to the United States price of US$49.99 per month, but following an inquiry by the Australian government into regional pricing of digitally distributed goods, Adobe Systems adjusted the Australian price to match that of the United States. [10]
Microsoft was criticised by a report released by the Australian Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communications titled "At what cost? IT pricing and the Australia tax." The report acknowledged that there were some contributing factors specific to the Australian market which can make it a higher-cost environment for IT vendors compared with other markets, such as Australia's small population and geographical distribution, [11] however the inquiry did not find that these factors were substantial enough to defend the price increases of products such as Microsoft Office, especially if the product is delivered via the Internet. [12]
In 2012, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communication began a 12-month investigation into price differences for IT products. [13] The report, mentioned in the preceding section, concluded that IT products are more expensive in Australia because of "regional pricing strategies implemented by major vendors and copyright holders". Ten recommendations were made including the removal of geo-blocking restrictions and lifting restrictions on parallel importing. [13] An amendment to the Competition and Consumer Act, which would void contracts or terms of service seeking to enforce geo-blocking, was suggested, as was the education of the Australian public on ways to circumvent geo-blocking mechanisms. The recommendations were supported by the Australian consumer rights organisation, Choice. [14]
Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe for Windows and macOS. It was created in 1987 by Thomas and John Knoll. It is the most used tool for professional digital art, especially in raster graphics editing, and its name has become genericised as a verb although Adobe disapproves of such use.
Purchasing power parity (PPP) is a measure of the price of specific goods in different countries and is used to compare the absolute purchasing power of the countries' currencies. PPP is effectively the ratio of the price of a market basket at one location divided by the price of the basket of goods at a different location. The PPP inflation and exchange rate may differ from the market exchange rate because of tariffs, and other transaction costs.
A price is the quantity of payment or compensation expected, required, or given by one party to another in return for goods or services. In some situations, especially when the product is a service rather than a physical good, the price for the service may be called something else such as "rent" or "tuition". Prices are influenced by production costs, supply of the desired product, and demand for the product. A price may be determined by a monopolist or may be imposed on the firm by market conditions.
A variety store is a retail store that sells general merchandise, such as apparel, auto parts, dry goods, toys, hardware, furniture, and a selection of groceries. It usually sells them at discounted prices, sometimes at one or several fixed price points, such as one dollar, or historically, five and ten cents. Variety stores, as a category, are different from general merchandise superstores, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, grocery stores, or department stores.
Criticism of Microsoft has followed various aspects of its products and business practices. Issues with ease of use, robustness, and security of the company's software are common targets for critics. In the 2000s, a number of malware mishaps targeted security flaws in Windows and other products. Microsoft was also accused of locking vendors and consumers in to their products, and of not following or complying with existing standards in its software. Total cost of ownership comparisons between Linux and Microsoft Windows are a continuous point of debate.
Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd, doing business as Coles, is an Australian supermarket, retail and consumer services chain, headquartered in Melbourne as part of Coles Group. Founded in 1914 in the suburb of Collingwood by Sir George Coles, Coles currently operates 846 supermarkets throughout Australia, including several now re-branded Bi-Lo stores. Coles has over 120,000 employees and accounts for around 27 per cent of the Australian market.
Rip-off Britain is an expression used by some to refer to the phenomenon in which some products and services cost significantly more in the United Kingdom than in other countries, especially member states of the European Union and the United States, than a basic currency conversion would permit.
A netbook is a small and inexpensive laptop designed primarily as a means of accessing the Internet. Netbooks were sold from 2007 until around 2013, when the widespread advent of smartphones and tablets eclipsed their popularity.
Price gouging is a pejorative term used to refer to the practice of increasing the prices of goods, services, or commodities to a level much higher than is considered reasonable or fair by some. This commonly applies to price increases of basic necessities after natural disasters. Usually, this event occurs after a demand or supply shock. The term can also be used to refer to profits obtained by practices inconsistent with a competitive free market, or to windfall profits. In some jurisdictions of the United States during civil emergencies, price gouging is a specific crime. Price gouging is considered by some to be exploitative and unethical and by others to be a simple result of supply and demand.
A parallel import is a non-counterfeit product imported from another country without the permission of the intellectual property owner. Parallel imports are often referred to as a grey product and are implicated in issues of international trade, and intellectual property.
In economics, the law of one price (LOOP) states that in the absence of trade frictions, and under conditions of free competition and price flexibility, identical goods sold at different locations should be sold for the same price when prices are expressed in a common currency. This law is derived from the assumption of the inevitable elimination of all arbitrage.
An excise, or excise tax, is any duty on manufactured goods that is normally levied at the moment of manufacture for internal consumption rather than at sale. It is therefore a fee that must be paid in order to consume certain products. Excises are often associated with customs duties, which are levied on pre-existing goods when they cross a designated border in a specific direction; customs are levied on goods that become taxable items at the border, while excise is levied on goods that came into existence inland.
The bundling of Microsoft Windows is the installation of Microsoft Windows in computers before their purchase. Microsoft encourages original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of personal computers to include Windows licenses with their products, and agreements between Microsoft and OEMs have undergone antitrust scrutiny. Users opposed to the bundling of Microsoft Windows, including Linux users, have sought refunds for Windows licenses, arguing that the Windows end-user license agreement entitles them to return unused Windows licenses for a cash refund. Although some customers have successfully obtained payments, others have been less successful.
The Australian property bubble is the economic theory that the Australian property market has become or is becoming significantly overpriced and due for a significant downturn. Since the early 2010s, various commentators, including one Treasury official, have claimed the Australian property market is in a significant bubble.
Kogan.com is an Australian portfolio of retail and services businesses including Kogan Retail, Kogan Marketplace, Kogan Mobile, Kogan Internet, Kogan Insurance, Kogan Travel, Kogan Money, Kogan Cars, Kogan Energy, Dick Smith, Matt Blatt and Mighty Ape. The company was founded in 2006 by Ruslan Kogan.
Stephen Elop is a Canadian businessman who most recently worked at Australian telecom company Telstra from April 2016. In the past he had worked for Nokia as its first non-Finnish CEO and later as Executive Vice President, Devices & Services, as well as the head of the Microsoft Business Division, as the COO of Juniper Networks, as the president of worldwide field operations at Adobe Systems, in several senior positions in Macromedia and as the CIO at Boston Chicken.
Adobe Creative Cloud is a set of applications and services from Adobe that gives subscribers access to a collection of software used for graphic design, video editing, web development, photography, along with a set of mobile applications and also some optional cloud services. In Creative Cloud, a monthly or annual subscription service is delivered over the Internet. Software from Creative Cloud is downloaded from the Internet, installed directly on a local computer and used as long as the subscription remains valid. Online updates and multiple languages are included in the CC subscription. Creative Cloud was initially hosted on Amazon Web Services, but a new agreement with Microsoft has the software, beginning with the 2017 version, hosted on Microsoft Azure.
Halal literally means "permissible" in Arabic and refers to food items that are permissible to consume under Sharia law, whereas haram refers to any substance not permitted to consume. According to the Australian Food and Grocery Council, halal foods must be "free from any substance taken or extracted from a haram animal or ingredient ; [be] made, processed, manufactured and/or stored by using utensils, equipment and/or machinery that has been cleaned according to Islamic law ; and [be] free from contact with, or being close to, a haram substance during preparation, manufacture, processing and storage ."
A value-added tax is a consumption tax that is levied on the value added at each stage of a product's production and distribution. VAT is similar to, and is often compared with, a sales tax. VAT is an indirect tax, because the consumer who ultimately bears the burden of the tax is not the entity that pays it. Specific goods and services are typically exempted in various jurisdictions.
Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) is an international software vulnerability initiative that was started in 2005 by TippingPoint, a division of 3Com. The program was acquired by Trend Micro as a part of the HP TippingPoint acquisition in 2015.
