Treasurer Scott Morrison has not ruled out blocking foreign websites that refuse to collect GST from Aussie shoppers.

The scary prospect was raised by consumer group CHOICE earlier this week. It quoted an unnamed Treasury official who said overseas websites would be blocked as a “last resort” if they refuse to collect goods and services tax (GST).

Mr Morrison told Sky News on Tuesday night there was “nothing to suggest” that website blocking would be “on the top” of the Tax Office’s list of priorities. But he confirmed the ATO has the power to do so, and did not rule out its use to enforce GST.

The New Daily contacted the Treasurer’s office for clarification. A spokesperson confirmed the power exists, and that it could be used to combat “egregious and ongoing” illegal conduct.

From July 1, 2017, all online sellers operating in Australia with an annual turnover of $75,000 or more must charge 10 per cent GST for goods under $1000. The measure was legislated in May this year.

The measure is expected to reap the government $300 million in additional revenue between the 2017-18 and 2019-20 financial years, according to the budget papers.

This estimate is a conservative number that assumes not all online retailers will immediately comply, a Treasury official told The New Daily during this year’s budget lockup.

As illustrated in the graphic below, there are several foreign shopping websites that rank among the top 500 most popular in Australia, according to Alexa, an Amazon company.

CHOICE spokesman Tom Godfrey called on the government to rule out ever using the power in order to allay consumer concerns.

“The Treasurer says it’s ‘unlikely’ that the section 313 website blocking powers will be used to block websites that fail to charge GST,” Mr Godfrey told The New Daily.

“If this is the case, we’d invite the government to publicly confirm that this power will not be used, and that consumers do not need to worry that their access to specialty products only available online will be cut off.”

A spokesperson for the Treasurer confirmed the existence of the website blocking power.

“Government agencies have a long standing power to request assistance from internet service providers to enforce criminal law, safeguard national security and protect the public revenue,” the spokesperson told The New Daily.

“The ATO is one of the many government agencies that may seek to have websites blocked to enforce the law.

“The ATO has never used this power. The power has generally been used to prevent serious criminal activity, fraudulent sites and national security threats.

“This power is nothing new and nothing specific to the GST Low Value Threshold measure.

“This power would only be used by the ATO to stop the egregious and on-going illegal conduct in defrauding public Australian tax revenue.”

* The graphic has been corrected to remove websites incorrectly identified as foreign sellers