SOCIAL SECURITY TAXATION

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28951, 20 July 1959, Page 16

SOCIAL SECURITY TAXATION

Minister Replies To Correspondent More social security taxation was collected than was spent during the year ended March 31, 1959. said the Minister of Finance (Mr Nordmeyer) in a letter to the editor of “The Press.” “The Public Accounts for the year ended March 31. 1959, show that £10.4 million was received on account of social security charge from the self employed. In addition more social security income tax was collected than was spent, and both these amounts, totalling some £l6 million, were added to the reserve of the Social Security Fund, thus more than replacing the £l4 million not transferred last year,” Mr Nordmeyer said. He was replying to a correspondent “Accountant.” In a letter, dated July 13, “Accountant” said: “With reference to Mr Nordmeyer’s statement in the Budget about the necessity of separating social security from income tax. with its inference that in future some unprincipled politician might apply the tax to purposes other than those for which it was collected. May I ask what has happened to the extra social security tax collected last year? Has this been set aside for the Social Security Fund, or has it sone into the Consolidated Fund to be spent? In this connexion may I point out that the Inland Revenue Department issued separate and distinctive receipts for the 1958 Social Security tax' paid by provisional taxpayers last year. Therefore there should be no difficulty in identifying every penny of it” Tax Rebate “The tax rebate granted by the Government upon the introduction of P.A.Y.E was financed partly by not making the usual transfer of £l4 million from the Consolidated Fund to the Social Security Fund. This resulted in the reduction in the balance held in the Social Security Fund and the Government promised to reinstate this from the proceeds of the 1957-58 social security charge payable by the self employed.” Mr Nordmever said.

“The balance in the Social Security Fund at March 31. 1959 was £20.6 million, the highest it has ever been. Provision has been made in the current Estimates for a transfer from the Consolidated Fund to meet the full expenditure from the Social Security Fund,” said Mr Nordmeyer.