COOK ISLANDS TAXATION

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27427, 13 August 1954, Page 12

COOK ISLANDS TAXATION

EFFECT, OF ABOLITION TO BE STUDIED (Special Correspondent N.Z.P.A.) (Rec. 11 p.m.) RAROTONGA, Aug. 11. The implications of any decision to abolish New Zealand income tax in the Cook Islands will be studied by a special committee of the Legislative Council before it reports back in two days. The council decided this action today after a prolonged discussion during which the Minister of Island Territories (Mr T. C. Webb) warned that he would want something more than a general “Yes” or “No” to the question of tax application. “Unless lam satisfied this council has given thought to the consequences of the abolition, a resolution supporting such action will not carry great weight,” he said. Before the meeting was a remit which sought backing for a petition to the Prime Minister (Mr Holland) that New Zealand income tax laws should not apply to the Cook group. For the sponsors of the remit,’ the Rarotongan Island Council, Mr Piri Maoate said he would welcome the decision to* refer the question to the committee because “experienced heads” were needed in developing a full appreciation of the taxation question. Mr Webb said that as far as the Government was concerned, it was not wedded to the imposition of tax as at present and there was a good deal to be said for alternative methods of raising revenue in the islands. “But you people here, if you want the continued assistance of the New Zealand Government, must demonstrate that you are prepared to play your part in contributing to a reasonable extent to the revenue of the islands,” he said. “If the sponsors wanted tax abolished, they should give reasons and suggest a substitute.”