Tax ‘threat to scouts’

Press, 13 March 1980, Page 28

Tax ‘threat to scouts’

The Government had caused unjustified hardship |to the sea scout movement (with its sales tax on boats, Said the secretary of the Canterbury Area Sea Scout Committee (Mr D. JO’Rourke). The 20 per cent tax, coming on top of a “crippling rate of inflation,” put the price of boats out. of the

reach of sea Scout groups and their existence was in jeopardy. Mr O’Rourke said that he, and many people involved in sea scouting throughout the country, were “incensed” at the levying of the sales tax on boats for a group which was a legal educational charity. He said that the Minister

of Customs (Mr Templeton) had not only refused to grant the movement exemption from tax on the boats’ fibreglass hulls — the only part of the boats which were professionally built — he had also said that the finishing-off work, done by voluntary labour, might be taxed as well. This would mean that a finished boat, valued at $5OOO for example, woud cost the sea scouts $lOOO in tax, and this largely on the value of labour given freely by members of the sea scout group concerned. “This is very harsh, and is wrong in principle,” Mr O’Rourke said.

An Auckland boatbuilder had been exempted from

sales tax on an 18m sailing brigantine he built using traditional building skills because the vessel would be used for sail training by a non profit-making organisation. Mr O’Rourke said that these, criteria were “easily met” by sea scout cutters, but another application to Mr Templeton asking for a similar exemption has been promptly and courteously rejected without any real reason being given. “Unfortunately a good case has not convinced the Minister of Customs, and it appears that it is necessary to make a public issue out of the matter for it to be seriously considered,” Mr O’Rourke said.