Poll Shows Support For Rise In GST To Pay For Basic Services

by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong

05 May 2003

A recent survey conducted by Australian PR consultants Hawker Britton has found that 40% of the country's voters would back an increase in GST to 15% if the extra revenue was used to fund improvements in the health care and education sectors.

The poll found that just over half of all voters under 30 would accept a rise in the GST rate from 10% to 15% if it were invested in health and education. Half of all women also supported this premise.

Those in the middle income bracket were similarly divided on the issue, with 47% of those earning between $30,000 and $50,000 per year expressing support for a rise in GST, compared to 48% who opposed the idea.

The majority of the 1,000 taxpayers questioned did not support an increase in GST to subsidise a reduction in income tax - only 24% revealed that they were in favour of this proposal.

The findings seem to show a shift in opinion since the 1980's when the majority of taxpayers were more focused on lower rates of income tax. Figures produced by the Australian Electoral Study confirm this, with 65% of respondents in 1987 preferring income tax cuts to increased social spending, compared to 42% who were of the same opinion in 2001.

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