Axe GST on fruit and veges, uni researchers say

Tax on fruit and veges makes them too dear for some. Mary Jane Boland reports.

University researchers have called on the government to remove GST on fruit and veges so families can comply with the 5+ a day guidelines.

Their study shows households should spend four times more than they do on produce to meet the targets for healthy eating.

Statistics NZ figures collated for the Sunday Star-Times show the government got just under $51 million in GST revenue on fruit and veges in the year to June.

The Massey University research, released today, found a household of four needs to spend between $31 and $59 a week on the cheapest fruit and veges to meet the recommended target of eating at least five portions of fruit and veges a day. The latest figures, from 2004, show Kiwi households spend an average of just $5.90 a week on fruit and $8 on veges.

The research, by Dr Emma Dresler-Hawke and Dr Jane Coad, will be discussed at a major nutrition conference in Auckland this week.

Dresler-Hawke said $59 was high and would be an impossible cost for a low-income family.

"My key recommendation is GST should not be charged on fruit and vegetables."

She also wants free fruit offered to all primary schools, not just poorer decile one and two schools.

Green MP Sue Kedgley said the Health Select Committee, which she chairs, considered removing GST on healthy foods during its recent obesity study but economists said the idea was too difficult to implement.

Fight Obesity Epidemic spokeswoman Dr Robyn Toomath also wants no GST on fruit and veges.

Removing tax on healthy foods and putting higher taxes on unhealthy foods was ideologically sound, she said.

Australia does not charge GST on a wide range of foods, including fresh fruits and vegetables, milk and meat.

"Nobody, apart from Michael Cullen and individuals in government, has suggested that this is anything other than blindingly obvious... it does not need to be as difficult as people would make out," Toomath said.

Revenue Minister Peter Dunne said the strength of NZ's GST system was its universal application.

National's finance spokesman Bill English said: "I'd be sceptical that any tax change is going to alter any New Zealander's grocery buying habits."

- © Fairfax NZ News