THE WAR TAX.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 66, 18 March 1915, Page 8

THE WAR TAX.

(To the Editor.) Sir, —Thcrre is orniy one tax that will "fill the bHI" by putting the burden on the people who arc best able to bear it, and that is by a graduated income tax, so graded that there shall not be such disparity in the spending power of the people. The worst that can happen to people with, big jfioomes is that they would have l«s "mirpluß income" to inve?t every year. To tax " "umimprovied land value," irrespective of the amount held by each individual, would fall heavy on the poorest peopte who own land, and tend to concentrate land owning into fewer haimte. Under unimproved land value taxation a man can build and increase his income, and pay nothing more in taxes than the poor man who cannot afford to build, and if he could, would only ruin himself and neighbour by erecting buildings not required for use at payable rentals. There is a limit to the size of cities, and it is possible for the supply of buildings to exceed the demand. Land should not be taxed othcrr than by a graduated' tax on the incomes of individuals drawing incomes from laaid.—l am, etc. A. SANFORD. (To the Editor.) Sir, —Mr. Beauchamp advocates a one per cent, tax on imports and export* In regard to exports it would be unfair to rate flax and kauri gum, as these articles have, if anything, lost in value since the war commenced. On the other hand, the price of all farm products has gone up immensely, and can well afford to pay a 2* per cent, export duty. But why charge on exports only? The man who sells his mutton, butter, wool, cheese, beef, and bacon for local consumption benefits very materially owing to his more speculative exporting neighbour. A taxation as follows would hardly be felt by the farmer, hut it would bring in revenue sufficient to pay interest and sinking fund on a war loan of four millions:—lid per head sheep, £159,000; 1/6 per head cattle, £110,000; 3d per head pigs, £4,334; total, £273,334. The suggested one per cent, on imports would not affect the wholesale merchants. It would be passed on, with an addition, to the retailer, who would, as farthings are unknown in the Dominion, and owing to the fact that a one per cent, duty brought in with a shilling amounts to one-eighth of a penny, find it extremely difficult to equitably adjust the impost.—l am, etc., H.J. (To the Editor.) Sir,—That the tax is necessary, and that those, who are benefiting by the war should be the largest contributors to it, is patent to all fair-minded people. Those who glibly talk of further taxing racing do sot xeaQge; that the majaajg

following 'racing' for pleasure or as a business find the expense so burdensome,, particularly with the present high price of horse feed, that they are-' already considering the question of making. a final sacrifice, and giving it up. The economic fact must be accepted that those who have most to insure from loss must pay the largest premium. Mr. Beaucha-mp's proposal that a tax be placed upon exports and imports is so far, in the opinion of myself and those to whom I have spoken upon the subject, the soundest and fairest yet made. To frame a tax that would bear with mathematical equity upon every taxpayer is impossible, as it would be necessary to impose a different tax for every unit of the Dominion's population. The yield would be small in comparison with the gigantic machinery necessary. It is therefore necessary to accept a system of taxation that imposes itself as fairly as practical ingenuity can devise. The farming community will probably, through their representatives in Parliament, take exception to the export tax. They must, however, remember that as a body the war has been of material and immediate monetary advantage to them. This applies to the agriculturist and the pastoralists alike. The great bulk of the people of New Zealand are working people, and they necessarily build up the largest portion of the Dominion's revenue. They have, no sheep or cattle to double in selling value; they have no wheat, chaff or any cereals to also double in selling value. Their case is one for exemption from taxation rather than for further taxation. The worker who earns from nine to ten shilling a day has. to pay a very heavy war tax in that he pays more for all of the articles of food that he consumes, and for all the garments he wears, boots included, out of all proportion to his income. These payments, by the processes of economics, are responsible for the large sums paid to the farmer for the products of the soil. The system of indirect taxation is an engine which filches from people one would be ashamed to injure.—I am, etc., C. E. MAJOR