FARMERS’ NEW TAX FORM

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27035, 9 May 1953, Page 5

FARMERS’ NEW TAX FORM

PROCEDURE SIMPLIFIED Almost 100,000 farmers are required to furnish returns of income and social security declarations. This year the procedure has been simplified with the issue of a combined declaration and return form for social security charge and income tax. This replaces the two separate forms previously used. The social security charge due must accompany the form when fowarding to the district tax office or presenting at the Post Office. When paying social security charge at a Post Office, the taxpayer will have the front of the form receipted, and then, if he does not want details of his income as shown on the inside pages seen by others, he may seal the form in the three places marked, before the Post Office assistant forwards the form to the Inland Revenue Department. The social security charge, or an instalment, must be paid before July 7, otherwise a 10 per cent, penalty accrues.

The new form is a further example of the department’s policy of streamlining its own work procedures and easing things for the taxpayer in the clerical sense. Combined forms have also been issued for wage-earners and for business and professional persons. Drafts of the new forms were tried out with certain members of the public, and worked well. Time-saving Factor An important titne-saving factor is the introduction of a special new provisional declaration from which the businessman or farmer fills in on the basis of his previous year’s income. By paying the first instalment of his social security charge on the basis of that income he automatically gets an extension of time till September 1 to furnish ther combined form, or two months after balance date, whichever is the later.

In the past, when applying for an extension of time in which to file an income tax return, a person whose income was principally other than salary or wages had to make application giving reasons and also fill in a separate declaration form making it “provisional,” to obtain the benefit of the provisional declaration provision. This involved two communications, whereas now the procedure is much simplified by filing the one form. No change has been introduced in the procedure for companies.