ROUNDING UP BACHELORS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 45, 23 February 1931, Page 6

ROUNDING UP BACHELORS.

With most ncations seeking new avenues for taxation, it seems inevitable that eligible and unmarried men*will soon be specially lated foi their independence or failure to face tlie full responsibilities of life. The "Bachelor Tax/' which has been a subject of considerable controversy during the last few years, is, in fact, rapidly becoming an international matter. Already it is in force in France, Italy, Germany and Yugoslavia, and it is stated that Russia and Spain are seriously considering its adoption next year. The system in Yugoslavia is the most complete experiment so far made in that direction. As it operates only in the cities and large town 3, however, it has had the tendency to drive bachelors, comparatively well off, to the villages. It affects imen between the ages of thirty and sixty years, the heaviest imposition being imposed on those between thirty and thirty-five years, [France has taxed single men since 1920, men of more than thirty years being required to pay a supertax of twenty-five per cent. In 1927 Italy commenced with the taxation of men between the ages of twenty-five and sixty-five years. In France and Italy the effect of the tax has been to stimulate marriages to a surprising extent. The former country also taxes women over thirty years with a twenty-five per cent impost. England had a bachelor tax in the time of William 111., and it is now hinted that a proposal for its revival will be figured prominently at the next general election and will have support from influential quarters. The "Sunday Chronicle" considers that the tremendous weight of the women's vote may ensure the reintroduction of the tax. There are ■more than two and a half million bachelors of full age in England and Wales alone, so such a tax would yield a huge amount of national revenue. This tax development should have more than a passing interest for the Government and people of New Zealand. —E.A.B.