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Research Paper On No Gst On Fresh Fruit And Vegetables

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NUT3082 Assessment Task 3: Advocacy Discussion Paper – No GST (Goods and Services Tax) on fresh fruit and vegetables. September 27 2017 The Hon. Scott Morrison MP Federal Treasurer GPO Box 2936 Melbourne VIC 3001 AUSTRALIA To the honorable Scott Morrison, Say ‘NO!’ to GST - Keeping fresh fruit and vegetables on the exemption list from GST. I wish to extend my gratitude towards the continued policy of ‘no GST on fresh fruit and vegetables’ as Australia has been identified by INFORMAS (International Network for Food and Obesity/ non-communicable disease Research, Monitoring and Action Support) as an international best practice within the food pricing domain in the policy area ‘Minimize taxes on healthy foods’ (1). …show more content…

Additionally, studies have found a correlation between high fruit and vegetable costs and childhood obesity in low and middle-income households (5). It is thought that households may compensate for the increase in price by buying less fresh produce and substituting it with cheaper (and most likely unhealthy) products (5). Furthermore, obesity is an enormous economic burden with the total annual cost in 2009 being a massive $56.6 billion (6), with more and more Australians becoming obese this figure will increase in the years to come. It is clear that changing the current policy will increase the financial burden which will cost the government billions of dollars, whereas, if the Government maintains the policy of no GST on fresh fruit and vegetable it will continue to save the economy millions of dollars and can help combat the relentless issue obesity poses on society. Following on, as Australia’s GST policy exempts fruit and vegetables from having a tax placed upon them, abolishing this policy would have serious negative health implications on the Australian citizens. Obesity is a result of environmental factors, the government must create positive food environments as it is a crucial factor in reducing the risk of obesity and is why there should continue to be no GST on fresh fruit and vegetables (7). Studies conducted by The University of Queensland hs estimated that if the GST

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