This is why fiddling with GST is such a bad idea

Viva reports:

A new petition launched by local skincare entrepreneur Katey Mandy is challenging the New Zealand Government to remove GST from the sale of sunscreen products. …

But is it fair to pay GST on a product that can save your life?

Katey Mandy, entrepreneur and founder of local skincare label Raaie, doesn’t think so, and now she’s urging you to join her mission to lobby the government to do away with GST on sunscreen altogether.

No, no, no, no ,no.

This is what happens when people start to see GST as a tax that should only be applied to some goods and services, and not others. Then every industry in NZ wants to be exempted – food, tampons, sunscreen.

You could make a case for no GST on doctors fees. No GST on sun hats.

GST is about efficiently collecting revenue. It is not about how good or not good a product is.