The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1929. THE NEW TAXATION.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 221, 18 September 1929, Page 6

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1929. THE NEW TAXATION.

ifor fto tamtt that lack* iiwtw«, for f*« future m» <*« dittana, Ami th* gtoi thmt WMft

. The Land and Income Tax Amendment Bill follows the general lines laid down in the Budget. ' It is, on the one hand, a measure for raising revenue by throwing the incidence of taxation more heavily upon the large landowners; it is, on the other, a means of promoting settlement by breaking up large estates. In its general principles the Bill introduced yesterday does not in any way deviate from the course previously indicated by the Prime Minister. But Sir Joseph Ward, who is well aware of the difficulty of administering public finance on strictly equitable lines, told the House in his Budget speech that he would be prepared to make reasonable concessions to meet cases of hardship. In accordance with this pledge, he has modified his proposals in detail by raising the exemption level for supertax on land' or income from £12,500 to £14,000, and by raising the mortgage exemption in.the case of land tax from £5000 to £7500; and at the same time he has provided for a Commission to hear appeals where hardship is alleged and to make concessions.

As most people must be aware, an agitation has been energetically worked up throughout the country against this measure on the ground that it will press unfairly on farmers and landholders. As to the numbers actually affected, it appears that even in its original form, the supertax on farm lands would be paid by only 1750 landowners, while the reduced mortgage exemption would affect 6nly 2200 farmers. The proposals now before Parliament will reduce these numbers materially, and when the Prime Minister stated in the House yesterday that "over 85 per cent of the farmers would not be interfered with by the legislation" he was certainly well within the mark. These figures show how baseless and artificial all this agitation-is.-.lt is, of- course, easy to understand the point of view' of th« large holders,, who "apparently regard all forms of direct taxation as-clumsy and inequitable. But' it 'is' difficult to discuss the absurd criticism to which the Bill has been subjected by our morning contemporary. The "New i Zealand Herald" has been loud and persistent in its demands for the more lenient treatment of the landowner; and now that the Prime Minister, in strict accordance with'his promise, has made certain, important concessions to obviate hardship, the Reform organ , charges him with deserting his principles and abandoning the ground that he had taken up. Captious special pleading of this sort is not likely to benefit the party that attempts it, but at least it helps to show how flimsy and illogical are the objections that have been advanced against the Government's taxation proposals.