No GST on Healthy Food bill

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soupsoup, Jul 20, 7:03am
But, nfh1, this board isn't about rates, heating etc, do you actually disagree with me about food costs? I'm willing to be proved wrong!
vintagekitty, Jul 20, 7:08am
ah, But you missed out the eggs, free range bacon, chicken breast pieces, multigrain bread, freshly squeezed OJ, Milk, butter and pointed out noodles- which kids love before going to sport and part time jobs, and a treat of pizza? ? . Strange.
socram, Jul 20, 7:18am
Overall, I side with Buzzy - especially with regard to butter/marg.

What most ignore is the poor sod who has to do the bookwork in the corner shop! How on earth you define lean meat is totally beyond me. Does that mean fillet steak doesn't cop GST, but everyday mince does? We probably eat mince on average two or three times a week. We certainly don't eat fillet steak that often.

Where the butcher has cut the fast off a piece of rump steak, GST free, but left it on, attracts GST? Who is doing the bookwork for that?

Like many other very healthy people, I have always eaten butter, meat, etc and love whole milk, cream, eggs, cheese, full fat yoghurt etc. (Yes I also eat veg, but not a lot of fruit. )My health has not been compromised as I also exercise and eat a balanced diet. What is so difficult about a balanced diet?

Teenaged boys by virtue of their exercise and rapid growth need plenty of good food - and that includes fat...

For goodness sake, GST is a simple tax that we all understand and we get a tax free allowance to cover the basics. If people choose to eat at Maccas because it is cheaper than cooking at home, thatis the way it is.

Fiddling around with GST is no substitute for laziness or education and I for one resent anyone else telling me what is healthy for me and what isn't.

All fruit and veg is subject to weekly price fluctuation so capsicums or avocados that might be $2. 50 each one week may be $2. 50 a bag the next. Get used to it.
soupsoup, Jul 20, 7:21am
Totally agree socram!
shazzadude1, Jul 20, 7:23am
The difference in time is that humans worked a lot harder to survive then than they did now, and didn't have the easy access to calories that we have today.
buzzy110, Jul 20, 7:31am
Give it a rest VK. Your feeding habits are beside the point. Others are sticking to the thread.

What are your opinions on removing GST on some food items and not others?

There has been some brilliant commentary so far on just exactly how difficult that scenario would become for many people and how it would increase, not decrease costs. Also some have pointed out that the only winners would be supermarkets who wouldn't lower prices one jot and would instead pocket the extra profit.

I have also pointed out that foods like instant noodle and bread (grains) OJ (fruit) and sundry other items on your list would all be exempt but they won't improve the health of the nation one iota.
buzzy110, Jul 20, 7:37am
How do you know that shazzadude? When man was hunter gatherer he worked just 17 hours a week to gather food. I see primitive tribes in existence today who don't spend a lot of extra time working anymore than us. Tthey do walk more, for obvious reasons, but that is about it. Mostly if they can sit about they do.

Any why is the exercise level of primitive people relevant to our eating artificial foods like margarine instead of butter and milk with the fat removed?

And why should that food be exempt from GST whilst other foods still have the GST attached?
nfh1, Jul 20, 8:01am
I was pointing out that the different rates of VAT/GST are completely workable. It costs no more to apply tax at 5% than it does at 17. 5%. Whether or not the retailers pass on the reductions is another matter altogether - I would like to think that they would, but I have a feeling it will be extra dollars straight onto the bottom line.

You said that you felt it was better to stick to the one level of GST and I mentioned rates, heating to illustrate that different rates can be of benefit, especially if they are less than the standard rate.
inimitably.me, Jul 20, 8:05am
I think we shouldnt pay GST on food (excluding junk food like MacD's, KFC, etc. , )Other countries do it - why cant NZ ?
nfh1, Jul 20, 8:06am
Because the revenue is needed to support 'essential' spending!
beaker59, Jul 20, 8:07am
Biggest cultural food change in my lifetime which has created most of this sudden extra obesity is Softdrinks.

Std serving size for us Kids 40 yrs ago was a 7oz glass once or twice a week if we were lucky now days its daily and for teens etc several per day and the std serving seems to be 750ml plus. The empty calories in a 750ml serving of Coke or Fanta must be astronomical.

Maybe we should look at punative tax's on softdrinks first EH!
kay141, Jul 20, 8:18am
I do not think I need to "lighten up" as you say.
It gets very annoying having so called lowcarbers coming into nearly every thread and pushing their way of life. It doesn't suit everybody and Some of us have been round long enough to have seen all the fads.
vintagekitty, Jul 20, 8:30am
buzzy110 wrote:
Give it a rest VK. Your feeding habits are beside the point. Others are sticking to the thread.

Give it a rest, YOU, the biggest spammer of rubbish on here, is telling someone to give it a rest? . is this the only place you feel people listen to you?
vintagekitty, Jul 20, 8:31am
Maybe she needs a big cream bun to sweeten her up?
soupsoup, Jul 20, 9:06am
nfh1
understand what you are saying about rates etc. But in terms of applying tax, I think it does cost more if the rates differ. Fastest pretend example I can think of (time for bed! ) - I own a small restaurant. Tax only applies to fresh uncooked food. Do I make a menu that includes "steak tartare" with salad? mince patties with salad? what do I charge for it? This is at the lowest level of applying tax/costs but this is where the costs mount up and get passed on. I can't quote the % off the top of my head, but I suspect the UK is not so different from here in having a lot of small businesses, quite often with only mininal access/knowledge of computer programmes. The big companies will of course be quickly able to work out the best way to lower costs & market their products
nfh1, Jul 20, 9:21am
LOL - tell them to bring a takeaway! !

In the UK VAT is not applied to most food in shops etc - if you buy a cold pie it does not have VAT, if you then heat up that pie in the shop it becomes VAT rated! ! Any food in restaurants attracts VAT whether it is a lettuce leaf and apple salad or nachos with sour cream and bacon, you can be as healthy as you like but it does not matter.

It does sound complicated but most small businesses just have a button to press which shows which are zero and then they pay accountants vast sums of money to complete their VAT returns!

I must admit it was a shock here to pay GST on things like rates which is a tax on a tax in my book - but I am digressing!
melford, Jul 20, 9:28am
Once again I don't think we have a right to judge the way people eat or spend their money. You will never get everyone to eat "healthy" . The point is that if GST was removed from the basic food as previously listed it would make it easier for most people. The people I referred to in my earlier thread were not people who were buying luxury items, eg chips, pizzas etc but people who were working on a tight budget and who were buying sensibly
ferita, Jul 20, 9:46am
Just because you read some fringe pseudo science article on the internet it does not make you a nutritionist. Everything you say about food has been proven wrong by credible scientists working for organisations like the heart foundation and world health organisation. Just because you believe some wacko rubbish about carbs and animal fats doesnt mean that it is correct. You are now trying to say that these scientists are towing the line. . how convenient.

You have no facts to back this up and the information you try and present as facts is just propaganda and outright delusion.
ferita, Jul 20, 9:55am
Another opinion with no factual basis.
socram, Jul 20, 10:31am
Oh for goodness sake. There is so much bs published about food these days. It is as simple as it is complex. Eat more than you exercise off - you get fat. How simple is that?

What you eat is largely irrelevant as long as it is balanced to gain the vitamins and nutrients you need. Tax has nothing to do with it. You can get just as fat on healthy food as you can on so called junk food.

If you read any book on vitamins, to get your full daily quota from food, you'll take in too many calories and you'll get fat...

Instant noodles as quoted above may not be at all healthy if you read the ingredients, in the same way that diet drinks full of aspartame are dubious to say the least.

According to your average brewer, beer is good for you, as it contains hops, malt, barley etc and good clean water. It is also cheaper than milk.

For years, our mums cooked in lard and dripping. The best fish and chips in the world that I have tasted so far, were cooked in lard, not oil.

French chefs use butter and goose fat, not margarine.

High cholesterol has recently been proven to be less of a risk than low cholesterol for those over 50.

Sipping litres of bottled water a day (from plastic bottles) has done nothing for health or the environment so should this be GST free or not?

GST was brought in as a tax simple to apply, simple to understand - even for the small business. Why make it so difficult when it will achieve nothing except confusion, argument, extra work (particularly for the self employed) and no doubt, a new industry of additional, costly vigilante GST inspectors. Forget it.
shazzadude1, Jul 20, 10:40am
Simple-we live in a society where the average person consumes far more calories than needed, requiring people to look for lower calorie options in order to help maintain a bodyweight. Primitive people on the other hand ate at a level needed for survival, thus the need to limit calories wasn't a concern to people back then, and this is where your attempt at a comparison falls over.
nauru, Jul 20, 10:59am
I agree with you kay, food fads come and go. Yes, lowcarbers think their way is right but it doesn't suit everyone.
the_broker, Jul 20, 11:05am
Absolute stupid argument put forward by stupid people.

I don't do the groceries, so not sure of the numbers. But if you take just the food component for a family of 4, what have you got $200?
Now, if they were to convert half of that expenditure over to healthy food, they save $13. Are you going to change fat peoples eating habits dramatically for $13 bucks a week - for a family? No, you're not. Next.
ferita, Jul 20, 11:13am
13 dollars can be a huge amount to someone who is on a low income.
nfh1, Jul 20, 11:16am
It can, but do you think it is enough to make people change their eating habits - I just do not think people will change, because most do not want to.