NEW TAXATION DEDUCTIONS

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28984, 27 August 1959, Page 16

NEW TAXATION DEDUCTIONS

Tables For Use In October

With the knowledge that tax tables will change again on April 1 next year, the Inland Revenue Department has printed the new tax deduction tables on much cheaper paper than was used for the other two tables that have been issued since the introduction of P.A.Y.E. taxation. New deduction tables have been printed ready for issue once the bill fixing the rates is passed by Parliament, but they are not being issued until the bill becomes law. The new deduction rates, to apply from October 1, will be issued in a booklet the size of a telephone directory, on newsprint and in type which is not as clear as that in the existing foolscap-size booklets.

There is not the same different shading for the weekly earnings and, the pay period tax deductions for overtime, still printed in green on white, ar.e not as clear as in the present tables, and they were the subject of some complaints from pay clerks. Clerks in charge of wages in big establishments may find that the new tables put a greater strain on their eyes; but they have one advantage. Each double page contains the full scale of tax deductions from S to S 9 and over and M to MIO and over, where in the past deductions from S 8 and over and M 9 and over were shown on separate sheets.

I The new tables contain only one new provision. It deals with profit sharing and states that where an employee is engaged on a relatively small weekly wage but entitled to an annual payment on a specified percentage share of the profits, the application of normal rules might result in an excessive tax deduction. To avoid that, application can be made to have the total annual income spread evenly over 52 weeks for taxation. The change in tax rates at the beginning of October does not require new tax code declarations from employees. Once the new tables are issued wages clerks will be able to begin the preparation of new wage sheets where book-keeping is done by machines, but those faced with the major tasks in adjusting pay-outs and tax deductions still have a big unspoken question—will the Arbitration Court issue a general wage order before October 1? Anything after that could set at naught a lot of the work required in the meantime.