Taxation School Held As A Trial

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30678, 18 February 1965, Page 14

Taxation School Held As A Trial

(New Zealand Press Association) MASTERTON, February 17. Ministerial approval had been given yesterday to the opening on an experimental basis of New Zealand’s first school of taxation, the Commissioner of Inland Revenue (Mr L. J. Rathgen) said in Masterton today.

Addressing the N.Z. Master Grocers’ Federation conference, he said the school would be at Wellington Polytechnic over a period of 40 weeks and would be a full-time one. “It will be attended by 25 members of the department’s staff, the syllabus being based on that of the Harvard Tax School.

“The syllabus will include elements of taxation in all forms, elements of law, elements of accountancy, elements of management, international taxation systems and trends. Streamlined methods were used to make the staff available without increasing staff, said Mr Rathgen. When asked if the school of taxation could lead to a chair of taxation, Mr Rathgen said the school had been approved on an experimental basis only. It was too early yet to say whether there might be a chair.

The purpose of the school is to enable those who attend to become better able to administer taxation in New Zealand. Two years ago the department had recorded 90,000 hours of overtime but this had been reduced to 7000 hours, Mr Rathgen said. The first objective of the

department was to give an effective service and to remove the mysteries of taxation from the minds of the public.