Income tax

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32701, 2 September 1971, Page 12

Income tax

Sir,—When we owe a creditor money we at least expect him to send us an account, and not expect us to “work it out” ourselves—as 1 was informed this morning by the Inland Revenue when I rang up to ask when our assessment notices would arrive. As we have to pay a proportion by September 7 (and are threatened with reprisals if we don’t), and my forms were filled in two months ago, I expected to receive instructions, which I am now told may not be issued by September 7. So, under a Gilbertian order of Justice I could be penalised for not paying a sum which is totally unknown to me. I may say that my strictures do not apply to our local officials who, in the face of some very unparliamentary language, gave me a clue to the situation which will save me from being branded a felon.—Yours, etc., I.S.T. August 30, 1971.

[The District Commissioner of Taxes (Mr C. K. Jones) replies: “The department is at present issuing statements of account to those taxpayers who have furnished 1.R.3 returns and these show the amount of provisional tax to be paid by September 7. Any taxpayer who does not receive this statement in time to make the payment should contact the department, or, if this is not possible, should pay the same amount as he paid in September last year. This amount should normally be one-third of the terminal tax for the previous year.”]