COMPANIES OVERTAXED

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 37, 13 February 1943, Page 3

COMPANIES OVERTAXED

INVESTORS DISCOURAGED The reliance placed by the Government on companies lor taxation yields was referred to by the chairman of the Wellington .Trust. Loan and Investment Company, Limited, Mr. William Watson, at the seventieth annual meeting on Thursday. Out of a profit of £11,795, taxation absorbed £ 8298, or 70 per cent, leaving £ 3497 for distribution to shareholders. "Expressed as a percentage basis, this return on the shareholders' invested funds is only 1.5 per cent. It is apparent that, this is not a sufficient t return and must seriously discourage investors, commented the chairman. "It seems that what we are experiencing to-day is an apparent tendency to overtax commercial enterprise and perhaps to undertax the individual, he said at a later St "Whtle it is realised by most that the amount which must be spent on war expenditure is governed largely by events beyond our control, nevertheless it is important that those jS au '?°ysl should have a complete understanding of the implication of their acts and adopt measures that will distribute the taxation burden insuch a way as to avoid unnecessary strain economy as well as to act as a brake against inflation."