Few pensioners seek advice on surcharge

Press, 12 March 1985, Page 9

Few pensioners seek advice on surcharge

Canterbury people were slow to respond yesterday to the first day of the Inland Revenue Department’s information campaign about the new superannuation surcharge, said the department’s acting assistant district commissioner, Mr Allan Hopkins. Centres where people could get information about the surcharge were set up at Woolston, Rangiora and Cashel Street in Christchurch, but Mr Hopkins said

that very few people made inquiries. “I suppose it’s because the campaign is just swinging into gear,” he said.

Pamphlets telling people about the campaign should have been delivered yesterday, he said. “Another part of the problem is that we don’t think everyone has got a pamphlet yet. People will get them in the next few days.”

Centres would be open today from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Riccarton drop-in centre, the Kaiapoi Community Centre and the Baptist Church Hall in Sydenham. The Inland Revenue office in the Government Life Building in Cathedral Square would also be open from 8 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. for people wanting information. “We expect the response to pick up as people realise where the centres are,” Mr Hopkins said.