TAX LIMIT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 93, 20 April 1932, Page 7

TAX LIMIT.

REACHED IN BRITAIN BALANCED BUDGET. Little and Few Reductions Proposed. REMARKABLE ECONOMIES. (United P.A.—Electric Telegraph—Copyright (Received 10.30 a.m.) LONDON, April 10. The Budget was presented in the House of Commons by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Neville Chamberlain. Members left their cards claiming seats from midnight onwards. The House was crowded from the opening, and the galleries were quickly filled. The Prince of Wales took his seat above the clock. Women in the public galleries outnumbered the men.

Air. Chamberlain said that Viscount Siiowden's emergency Budget in the autumn of 1931 was unprecedented for a century. It. was a model of sound and sane finance. Continuing, lie said: "We are now £9,000,000 better oil than Viscount Snowden anticipated. The economies amounted to £34,500,000 instead of the estimated £22,500,000." Reduced unemployment had aided the Exchequer in addition to a surplus of £.304,000. Only £12.700,000, instead of £23,000,000, had been taken from the dollar exchange fund, a remarkable result of the emergency Budget, winch produced a profound impression on instructed opinion throughout the world. The Customs and excise receipts are £3,000,000 above the estimate. There has been a serious and unexpected deficiency in death duties, which yielded £05.000.000, instead of the estimated £83,000,000. Income tax yielded a surplus of £15,000,000 over the estimate. The magnificent response of the income taxpayers showed the sense of the duty of citizenship for which the British people could always be relied in a time of trouble. Anxious and Difficult Year. The year had been one of anxiety, difficulty and hardship to all classes. Taxes had to met out of capital, an<l in only the last few months had the revival of trade and employment led to the hope that the worst was past. He anticipated that on the present basis there would be a drop of £32,500,000 in the income tax receipts as payable on earnings in the year of unprecedented depression. "We have clearly approached the limit of taxation through income tax," he remarked. It is provided that for the next five years the preference on imported colonial sugar will be increased by 1/ per cwt. A special supplementary preference of another 1/ on a limited quantity of sugar will be allocated by the Colonial Oflice among the sugar producing colonies. Foreign and Dominion sugar duties will not be altered. The present position was that the total expenditure was £700,000.000, and the estimated revenue £731,500,000, leaving a deficit, of £34,500,000. He estimated that lie would receive £250,000 from the abnormal import duties, £750,000 from the horticultural duties, and £27,000,000 from the 10 per cent imports duties. The last-named, however, was highly conjectural. Ho would make an order under the Imports Duties Act, based on the Tariff Committee's recommendations before (ho end of this week. This would yield £5,000,000, but he would not disclose the commodity at present. These additional receipts would bring the total to £704,000.000, reducing tho deficit to £1,700,000.

Exchange Equalisation Account. "Since the Budget has been balanced, there has been an inward flow of liquid capital flattering to our credit," said Mr. Chamberlain, "but it was also somewhat embarrassing to trade. We must avoid violent currency fluctuations for which I propose to "build up an Exchange Equalisation Account." He would ask the House for power to borrow £150,000,000. He could not give an assurance that this fund would finally end the exchange fluctuations, but they would then be better equipped to maintain steadiness than in the past. The conditions of the world ruled out the possibility in the near future of returning to the gold standard. There will be no relief to income taxpayers this year. The voluntary schemes of employers paying the tax and reducting the instalments from employees' wages ought to become a permanent system. There would be no reduction in the beer tax. A duty was being imposed on foreign tea of 4d per lb with a prefprenco of 2d on Empire tea. The final figures or the estimated expenditure were £7G0,004,000, revenue £7<w;.500,000, a surplus of £790,000. Mr. George Lansbury, Labour leader, following Mr. Chamberlain, said he hoped Sir Herbert Samuel and Viscount Snowden gloried in the fact that they were participating in Britain's first Protec tionist Budget. Mr. Chamberlain had admitted that they had reached the limit of direct taxation. Money could not fall from the heavens and must come from the pockets of the people There was no hope of restoration of trade and industry on a policy of economic nationalism. The only basis was national co-operation. They would never secure stability in the world till a stabilised currency was applied to the world-wide Budget.