Committee opposes GST on books
PA Wellington Government moves/to include books under the goods and services tax blanket are in breach of international agreement, according to the New Zealand Book Council. Dr Robin Williams, chairman of a committee set up to oppose GST on books, said any tax imposed by the Government would be inconsistent with previous Labour Party policy. The Florence agreement and later the Nairobi protocol signed by New Zealand and other members of U.N.E.S.C.O. said there should be a free flow of books without external or internal taxes, he said. Any move by the Government to impose' GST on books was a breach of the spirit and intention of those two agreements, Dr Williams said. “The Nairobi protocol says that signatories of U.N.E.S.C.O. undertake not to levy international taxes on books and publications.’ Any tax is clearly a breach under that agreement. “It should be known books are the only commodity in the world to be subject to such an agreement.”
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Press, 10 July 1985, Page 22
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164Committee opposes GST on books Press, 10 July 1985, Page 22
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