TAXATION OF UNION DUES

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29983, 19 November 1962, Page 13

TAXATION OF UNION DUES

Exemption Claim Supported

“The Federation of Labour has a strong moral case in its claim that trade union subscriptions should be exempt from income tax.” said the president of the Constitutional Society, Mr J. Nigel Wilson, Q.C., of Auckland, in a supplied statement. “For 25 years unionism was compulsory in New Zealand and it is still substantially so today,” Mr Wilson said. “It is surprising that this concession was not granted long ago. Perhaps the authorities considered the amount involved as trivial, but like other expenses involved in earning a livelihood, such as travelling to and from employment, union fees have risen. Taxes also have risen and many more workers are now in the net.

“Members of the professions have long rightly enjoyed the privilege of tax exemption on the practicing fees they pay to their professional organisations and there is no difference in principle between that and trade union fees. It is absolutely wrong that tax should be collected on money that must be paid in union subscriptions,” Mr Wilson said.