‘Govt blunder' in tax on handicapped

Press, 17 August 1978, Page 22

‘Govt blunder' in tax on handicapped

The Government’s decision to tax the small earnings of intellectually handicapped workers was an “administrative blunder” which could be easily removed, said the president of the Canterbury branch of the Society for the Intellectually Handicapped (Dr R. T. M. Caseley) in Christchurch. If the tax proposal becomes law on October 1, more than 1900 intellectually handicapped workers throughout New Zealand, who get between 50c and $3 a week as a token payment for work in sheltered workshops would have to pay 14.5 c tax in the dollar. In Christchurch, as in other parts of New Zealand,

the pay given to intellectually handicapped workers was only personal spending money, Dr Caseley said. “To tax these people is an unfortunate piece of discrimination. It is also a nuisance, inasmuch as all workers will be required to fill out tax forms,” he said. Dr Caseley said he fully agreed with the president of the Society for the Intellectually Handicapped (Dr Donald Beasley), who has asked the Government to remove the tax so that intellectually handicapped workers could get the same rebate as given to schoolchildren. “This would enable handicapped persons in sheltered workshops to eam up to $549 a year without being liable for tax,” said Dr Casley.