The following article appeared in the Winter 2010 issue of The Maritimes, magazine of the Maritime Union of New Zealand.

Get GST off food

The Maritime Union of New Zealand has endorsed a new campaign remove GST from food and tax financial speculation.

The Maritimes magazine is urging all workers to support the Tax Justice campaign.

Organizers say GST hits workers on low to middle incomes hard and that is why they want GST taken off food.

Maritime Union of New Zealand General Secretary Joe Fleetwood says the campaign is “an important cause for the working class to get behind.”

Mr Fleetwood says the Maritime Union is the first union to endorse the campaign and would be promoting it to the rest of the Union movement in New Zealand.

The petition kicked off with a national day of action on Saturday 22 May, with nearly 900 signatures collected at the seven petition stalls organised around the country.

Since that time hundreds more signatures have been collected.

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Tax Justice media release
23 July 2010

Peter Dunne, Revenue Minister in the National-led government has said “it’s not New Zealand’s policy to have a non-universal GST.”

“This is not true,” says Vaughan Gunson, Tax Justice campaign coordinator. “GST is not applied universally today. The major exemption is for financial services.”

Inland Revenue lists the following financial services as exempted from GST: dealings with money; certain dealings with securities; provision of credit and loans; provision of life insurance; provision of non-deliverable futures contracts and financial options; the payment and collection of interest, principal and dividends; and issuing securities such as stocks and shares.

“The main users of these financial services are rich investors, speculators, banks and other wealthy corporates,” says Gunson.

“Why is it okay for them to get off paying GST, when grassroots people struggling to make ends meet have to pay tax on food?” asks Gunson. “John Key needs to fess up to the people of New Zealand and admit that our tax system has a rotten core.”

“GST on food makes up a big chunk of the government’s tax revenue, but that could easily be replaced by introducing a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT),” says Gunson.

“A small percentage tax on financial transactions would net billions from rich speculators and wealthy corporates, who are today enjoying a free ride from GST,” says Gunson.

The Tax Justice campaign has been launched to promote a doable solution to New Zealand’s unjust tax system.  The focus of our campaign is a petition that calls on parliament to:

1. Remove GST from food; and
2. Tax financial speculation.

“In the last two months we’ve collected 5,000 signatures,” says Gunson. “We’re picking up a lot of anger on the street about the upcoming GST hike, which will stretch the budgets of low-to-middle income people to breaking point,” says Gunson.

“The issue of tax justice for grassroots Kiwis is not going away. We’re confident the campaign is going to get bigger and bigger.”

See Tax Justice media release (18 July): “It’s New Zealand’s tax system that’s unhealthy” says Tax Justice campaign

For more information on the campaign, contact:

Vaughan Gunson
Tax Justice campaign coordinator
(09)433 8897
021-0415 082
svpl@xtra.co.nz

Victor Billot
Tax Justice media spokesperson
021-482 219
victor@victorbillot.com

John Key says ‘no’. Grassroots people on the street are saying ‘yes’.

Join the Tax Justice campaign and force the government to listen. Our petition calls on parliament to: 1) Remove GST from food; and 2) Tax financial speculation.

In two months since the launch of the campaign we’ve collected 5,000 signatures. The number of signatures being collected is accelerating as more people offer to help. To get involved contact Vaughan Gunson, Tax Justice campaign coordinator, email svpl@xtra.co.nz or ph/txt 021-0415 082.

‘We won’t support GST removal’ – PM

from NZ Herald
21 July 2010

Prime minister John Key

A bid to remove GST on healthy foods to lower costs has been slammed by the Government.

Prime Minister John Key said the Government will not support Maori Party MP Rahui Katene’s bill, which defines healthy food as fruit and vegetables, breads and cereals, milk and milk products – excluding ice cream, cream products, condensed and flavoured milk – and lean meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, nuts, seeds and legumes.

The Government would not support the removal of GST on particular items, he said.

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Tax Justice media release
18 July 2010

The debate around Rahui Katene’s private members bill to remove GST from healthy food needs to be broadened. That’s the message from Tax Justice campaigners.

“We need to address the core injustices in New Zealand’s tax system,” says Vaughan Gunson, Tax Justice campaign coordinator. “Grassroots people are forced to stomach GST on food, while something as destructive to the economy as financial speculation goes untaxed,” says Gunson.

The Tax Justice campaign launched on 22 May is proposing a healthy alternative to what’s being served up today.

“We’re advocating that GST be removed from all food,” says Gunson. “This would deliver a tax cut that wouldn’t be unfairly tilted in favour of the rich.”

A family spending $200 a week on food after 1st October will be paying GST of $26.09. Take the GST off food and you’ve got a tax cut more substantial than most people are going to get from National’s tax changes.

“And we’ve got the answer for how we maintain enough tax revenue to properly fund public services,” says Gunson. “We’re saying tax the financial speculators, who are getting away with paying no tax at the moment.”

“A Financial Transactions Tax (FTT) would be the best way to make financial speculators pay tax at the point where their profits are accumulated,” says Gunson. “A small percentage tax on financial transactions would net huge sums from mostly overseas speculators, but also local ones.”

We’ve been taking our message onto the streets with a petition that calls on parliament to:

1. Remove GST from food; and
2. Tax financial speculation.

The response from people has been terrific. In two months we’ve collected 5,000 signatures,” says Gunson. “We expect the pace of signatures will continue to increase as more people find out about the campaign and offer to help.”

“Grassroots people know New Zealand’s tax system is unfair. The Tax Justice campaign is promoting a doable solution.”

For more information on the campaign, contact:

Vaughan Gunson
Tax Justice campaign coordinator
(09)433 8897
021-0415 082
svpl@xtra.co.nz

Victor Billot
Tax Justice media spokesperson
021-482 219
victor@victorbillot.com