Expenditure, Receipts Both Higher This Year

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30586, 31 October 1964, Page 7

Expenditure, Receipts Both Higher This Year

(From Our Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, October 30. The excess of payments over receipts in the Public Accounts for the first half of the financial year is nearly £lO million higher than at the end of September last year. The current excess is £46.7 million.

In his Budget statement in June, the Minister of Finance (Mr Lake) said the Government faced a substantial increase in expenditure this year, estimated to reach £538 million and to exceed estimated taxation and other revenue by £6B million.

The difference must be met by the net proceeds from public loans, departmental and other investments and small savings. The absence of revenue from the 2d-a-gallon emergency motor spirits duty from the consolidated revenue account has resulted in a decline of nearly £1.2 million in indirect taxation paid into the Public Accounts. Last year, in the period from April to September 30, this duty produced £1,198,630;

it is now included in the motor spirits tax paid into the National Roads Board fund.

Estate, racing and stamp duties and other receipts by the State are down by £600,000; but other classes of taxation income and Social Security taxes, customs duties, sales tax and beer duty have all brought more revenue than last year. The total receipts for the j’ear so far are therefore up by nearly £lO million from £151.3 million. But expenditure is nearly £2O million higher. By the end of September it had reached £206 million. The increased payments were generally in line with Budget provisions for the full year, said Mr Lake today when he released a summary of the public accounts for the first six months of the year. INCOME TAX The summary of receipts and payments issued by the Treasury shows that income tax has produced £43.1 million, or £3.5 million more than last year at this stage. Social Security income tax is up by £3 million to £38.5 million. “On the revenue side,” said Mr Lake, “the main features are the rises in income and sales tax collections.”

The summarised results in count are: Receipts— Income and Social Security Taxes Customs Sales Tax Beer Duty Estate, Racing and Stamp Duties Other Taxes Other Receipts Payments— Debt Services Stabilisation Subsidies Defence Social Services General Administration ....

Income tax receipts would have been higher but for the reduction from one-half to one-third in the first instalment of provisional tax payable by self-employed persons. The increase in sales tax was primarily due to active business conditions, he said. While the greater proportion of taxation revenue—particularly income tax—was received in the second half of the financial year, the rate of expenditure tended to be relatively steady, said Mr Lake.

OPPOSITION VIEW

(N.Z. Press Association) WELLINGTON, Oct. 30. The Leader of the Opposition (Mr Nordmeyer) said the most significant feature of the Public Accounts for the first six months of the year were that receipts (other than loan moneys) had increased by £9.9 million while expenditure had increased by £19.6 million.

“This is unlikely to cause the Government much concern in view of the fact that its borrowing right, left and centre is more than adequate to cover the deficit,” he said.

the Consolidated Revenue Ac-

£ Million 1963/64 1964/65 Variation

75.2 81.7 +6.5 19,2 19.8 <0.6 12.9 17.2 +4.3 6.8 7.1 <0.3 9.5 9.4 0 1 1.4 0.2 —L2 26.3 25.8 —0.5 ■■■ ■ ■ - 11 151.3 161.2 <9.9 — — —- 24.8 29.1 <4.3 8.1 9.9 + 1.8 11.7 15.3 <3.6 109.2 116.6 <7.4 34.6 37.1 +2.5 - ■1 1 188.4 208.0 +19.6