Making sure purchases remain within budget is the message from Tauranga Budget Advisory Service for people as GST rises to 15 per cent from Friday, October 1.

The increase comes on the same day as a tax cut comes into effect with the message from government that these two changes should balance one another with most people slightly better off.

Tauranga Budget Advisory Service manager Marjorie Spicer does not necessarily agree with this though as the GST increase impacts all stages of the supply chain and not just the ‘across the retailer's counter price'.

'It's not just on the food item that comes into the supermarket, but the manufacturing, the handling and the retailing of it are all going to have a GST component,” says Marjorie.

'People are going to need to think more carefully and it's not silly to ask for advice first.
'If you're considering making a major purchase, talk to somebody about it. Bounce it off somebody else.

'Don't just think, ‘it's just a few dollars more', it's going to last a long time into their budget and things change and people don't look around the corner – we don't know what's around the corner.”
As well as being careful in planning and aware of the increased rate of GST, Marjorie says people need to be wary of their bills as services, such as the telephone, used in September, should be charged GST of 12.5 per cent – not at the new 15 per cent rate.