REVISION OF TAXATION

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24797, 11 February 1946, Page 6

REVISION OF TAXATION

NEGOTIATIONS TO BE REOPENED

MANUFACTURERS- VIEWS A decision to reopen negotiations with the Minister of Finance (the Rt. Hon. W. Nash) and the Commissioner of Taxes on a revision of taxation, was reached by a meeting of the council of the New Zealand Manufacturers’ Federation m Wellington last week. The council directed its taxation committee to begin the negotiations at an early date. Commenting on the council discussions on the subject, the president of the federation, Mr W. J. Truscott, said that members of the federation had naturally examined steps being taken in other countries to revise taxation., “It would appear that many overseas countries and other British Dominions, particularly the more highly industrialised ones, where employment and maintenance of living standards are of such vital importance, are fully cognisant of the close relationship between production, employment, and incentive taxation,” he said. “Some have already translated this recognition into an actuality. Recently published reports show that all the Australian political parties recognise the taxation issue as being of major importance to the industrial development and employment of the country as well as to their political future.” A statement from the meeting says that the federation considers that the Government does not appreciate the extent to which industrial development and increased production over the next few years are being hampered by the high, and in some cases, anomalous taxation provisions in operation in New Zealand. “The federation was pleased to see some adjustments made, particularly in depreciation rates, at the last session of Parliament- but it still feels that something much more substantial is necessary to place industry in a position to maintain and expand production, to increase employment, and to improve efficiency, the statement adds.