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NZ $100 notes - Source: ONE News -
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New Zealanders already appear to be buying now to avoid higher GST costs signalled by the government on Tuesday.
The building industry says since the government raised the possibility of hiking the tax, inquiries have picked up pace.
Robin la Pere from Fix It Building Services says they have had a strong upturn in customer inquiries.
And the rush for goods and services should be expected after retailers were stretched when GST went up by 2.5% 20 years ago.
John Albertson from the Retailers Association says there was a lot of pressure on stock last time and they "want to avoid that this time around".
Consumer New Zealand is advising that if people are getting quotes from tradespeople or putting goods on layby it is important to make sure they know what the GST component will be.
And they warn consumers to be on the alert for retailers using GST as an excuse to push prices unnecessarily high.
"There's a possibility that some items may have nothing put on them and others may carry a little bit more but on balance we should be targeting to go no more than 2.5%," says Albertson.
In the OECD only five countries have a lower consumption tax than New Zealand while three are at 15%. Twenty countries have higher taxes, some up to 25%.
