TAXATION.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 15603, 30 May 1916, Page 2

TAXATION.

TO THE EDITOR OF "THE PRESS." | I Sir, —By your favour, I should like a few remarks on the above subject, for | the time is opportune. In tke first ■ & place, I deprecate the violent set made in some quarters on war profits. They, « no doubt, have been great in some in- @ stances, out they have been made at m great risks for most essential services. | Take shipping companies. Where B would the cause be without their ships? g Taxes on luxuries no doubt are right, 1 but will give an inadequa,te return at E the present juncture. A most equit- |j able and productive source of revenue 1 would be an income tax on small as well K as large incomes, with exemptions for n j dependents. A person with £3 per m week and no dependents is fair game | for taxation, while one with £4 per | week and a family to keep on it is by | ;no means fair game. How does the | • following scale appeal to you, Sir—£2 '■ C per week free in all cases, £1 g per week extra exemption for the first | dependent, 10s per week exemption for | every other dependent. This scheme s : wouid take money from those who | could pay, and would reach, among g other things, war .profits. | In the second place, why not an ex-. £ ; port tax? Surelv our staple products 8 ! could stand it. Such a tax should be | . productive, and it should have a ten- § dency in some cases to reduce local 1 prices—the only practical way yet sug- | ccstod of lowerinoc the cost of living. | Respect for your" space forbids more, | but I believe the question ought to be | publicly discussed without animus | against any section of the community. | —Yours, etc., § EQUITY, j I