SNOW LOSSES IN HIGH COUNTRY

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25934, 14 October 1949, Page 8

SNOW LOSSES IN HIGH COUNTRY

REFERENCE BY MR NASH OPPOSITION CRITICISM OF TAX INCIDENCE (New Zealand Press Association.) WELLINGTON. October 13. A lot more thought might be given to what the. Sheep Commission recommended about losses of stock through snowfalls on the high country, said the Minister of Finance (Mr Nash) eplying this afternoon to the second reading debate on the Land and Income Tax Amendment Bill. The oill was passed before the House adjourned for tea. Speaking yesterday. Mr C. M. Bowden (Opposition, Karori) said an overhaul in income T ax law was more than due. The law was now contained in 58 statutes. A commission should have been set up years ago to inquire into income tax law. New Zealand had never been taxed as much as it was to-day. In 1915 direct taxation amounted to 9s a head. To-day it was £35 2s 2d.

Mr M. H. Oram (Opposition, Manawatu) said that taxation in New Zealand was in a chaotic, unscientific, unjust and inequitable state. The drainage of land, which was all-important to increased production and all that it cost, should be allowable as a deduction for income tax purposes. Resuming his speech to-day Mr Oram said distinctions between earned” and ‘‘unearned” income were arbitrary and unjust. They ‘ended to bring the law into contempt. Many anomalies and injustices in income tax law remained to be corrected. The incidence of taxation was unsatisfactory and unfair.

Mr T. P. Shand (Opposition, Marlborough) said the Minister of Finance was too busy, so that things which should be done this year were shelved until some vague future. Perhaps they would not be done in the ?.linister’s lifetime.

In his reply, Mr Nash said it was not correct to allege that the Government was shearing or fleecing the tanner. It was astounding what the fanner had left after income tax was paid.