August 15, 2011

Introducing a Financial Transactions Tax (FTT) and removing GST from food is needed to ease the tax burden on struggling families the National Distribution Union says.

NDU General Secretary Robert Reid says the union is backing a 40,000 signature petition calling for GST to be removed from food and the introduction of FTT which will be presented to Parliament tomorrow by organisers of the Tax Justice campaign.

“GST is an unfair tax that hits low income workers particularly hard when the rate of inflation is surging ahead of wage increases as it is at present,” says Mr Reid.

“Low paid workers pay proportionately more of their income in GST than the wealthy as most of their money is spent on basics like food and transport. The Government didn’t seem to think this was important when it lifted GST to 15 per cent last year.

“At the same time the richest people in the country were given massive tax hand outs which the taxpayer is funding through borrowing, making the situation for workers even more precarious.

Mr Reid says things have become very much skewed in favour of finance capital with government bailouts and privileges for that sector while workers’ wages and conditions are being constantly undermined by low wages, unemployment, anti-union legislation and cuts to social services.

“A FTT would move the policy emphasis back to rewarding the productive workers who do the old fashioned graft that keeps the economy ticking over,” he says.

ENDS

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