GST in Retrospect and Prospect

This book provides guidance on GST and VAT for future decision-making by policymakers, law drafters, tax advisors, businesses, and tax administrators. As global initiatives to reduce trade tariffs force countries around the world to consider new forms of revenue raising, value added tax (VAT) has emerged as one of the most important tax and revenue issues facing the world today. Twenty years after introducing the world's purest VAT, New Zealand continues to reduce exemptions to its ground-breaking goods and services tax (GST), and survives to tell the economic tale. On the 20th anniversary of the New Zealand GST, this book brings together a multi-disciplinary team of 29 experts from eight countries to analyse the New Zealand experience, its impact elsewhere, and the issues that have emerged in practice with the New Zealand tax and its overseas GST and VAT counterparts. The book synthesises many lessons learned to date and analyses serious current issues in relation to interpreting GST law, and applying GST and VAT to cross-border services, real property and financial services. Authors also explore revenue and business risk and the implications for GST and VAT systems everywhere as world markets integrate.