Cost of GST

Press, 14 December 1985, Page 18

Cost of GST

Sir,—A recent recruitment advertisement for the Department of Inland Revenue lauded the “rapid growth” the department was undergoing due to tax changes, namely F.B.T. and GST. A news item quoted the Christchurch City Council partially justifying up to 50 per cent increases in parking meter charges by the costs of complying with GST. These two examples are just the thin end of

the wedge but give the lie to Government claims that compliance costs for GST will not translate into rising prices. Businesses will increasingly either pass on their costs or give way to monopolies, with the same end result. Increased staffing levels in the Inland Revenue Department raise the per-dollar costs of tax collection. The Government will introduce legislation requiring retailers to display prices inclusive of GST, supposedly to protect the consumer, in reality to make the Government’s massive GST grab less visible.—Yours, etc., I. D. JOHNSON. December 11, 1985.