THE NEWS WRAP: Microsoft to take Google complaint to the European Commission

The campaign waged by an alliance of large retailers to charge GST on overseas online purchases has been called into question by the Productivity Commission.

Even a “large reduction” in the $1,000 GST-free threshold would not significantly impact the number of purchases made by Australian consumers via foreign websites, the commission said in a report.

Retail kingpins Solomon Lew and Gerry Harvey have called for a reduction in the threshold in order, they claim, to protect Australian jobs.

Angus & Robertson set for further closures

A further 12 Angus & Robertson stores are to close across Australia, leaving more than 100 people out of work.

The closures, announced by the administrators of parent company RedGroup Retail, follows the decision earlier this month to close 27 Angus & Robertson stores and one Borders outlet.

Microsoft takes Google complaint to EC

Microsoft is to take an anti-competition complaint against Google to the European Commission. The two tech giants are clashing over Microsoft’s claims that Google used its dominant search engine position to restrict the software company’s growth.

Google said that it was not surprised by the move, adding that it would be happy to explain itself to the commission.

Overnight

The Dow Jones industrial average crept up 4.20 points to 12,354.81. The Australian dollar advanced to 103.65 US cents.