MANY AWAIT TAX PACKS

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33786, 7 March 1975, Page 12

MANY AWAIT TAX PACKS

The telephone exchange at the Inland Revenue Department’s Christchurch office was jammed for much of yesterday by callers who had not received their new tax packs.

All IS lines in anti out of the office were under constant pressure and extra staff had to be deputed to cope with the flood of calls for packs. The District Commissioner of Taxes (Mr C. K. Jones) said that he was pleased about this because the publicity given to the tax pack campaign had obviously done the job intended. Asked why so many people had not yet received tax packs. Mr Jones explained that those already sent out had gone only to people who had furnished returns last year. Since then, the work force had increased considerably and the number of people required to furnish returns because of higher incomes had also risen. Provisional taxpayers were also looking for their packs which had not arrived. Only those who had furnished

returns in 1973 had so far received them. Mr Jones said about ( 400.000 taxpayers throughout New Zealand would be ' waiting for packs which they , would get before the end of the financial year. Today is the last day for > the payment of terminal tax I and the second instalment of; ■ provisional tax for those who I : pay it. The department had; : a flood of mail yesterday x and( (is expecting much morel : [ today. <( Many large firms are tak-i II ing advantage of special ( arrangements made by the! > Minister of Finance (Mr| : ' Tizard) to accommodate i those unable to pay tax. 1 The arrangements are that; ■ the firms get extra time to pay but also pay interest on; the amount of tax they owe. I This saves .those with liquidity problems having to ■ go to the money lenders and i paying about 18 per cent ■ interest so that they can I,meet their tax commitments.;