EMPLOYMENT TREND

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 191, 11 May 1938, Page 13

EMPLOYMENT TREND

New Declaration Form For Taxpayers

ACCURATE STATISTICS BEING COMPILED

Reasons for the issue of u form requiring a declaration of occupational status from payers of employment taxation were given by the Minister of Labour, Hon. H. T. Armstrong, in a statement. issued yesterday. He said the Government was seeking nothing more than accurate employment statistics. “The impression appears to have bean put abroad,” said the Minister, “that a declaration form which has lately been distributed through the post to employment taxpayers under cover of a letter over my signature is totally new, and one daily juewspaper has wrongly advised its readers that ‘nobody is required by law to complete this form.’ Part I of the form, which provides for particulars of the financial affairs of the taxpayer, has in fact been in use annually since 1931, when it was introduced by the previous Government. Completion of the form by employment taxpayers has, therefore, been compulsory by law for eight years, and, in view of the penalty attached to noncompliance, the public should ignore the advice given by the newspaper in question.

“The main difference this year is this. Instead of having to procure the form from a Government office, most taxpayers have already had it delivered to them in order to reduce inconvenience to themselves, and also to prevent congestion at the post, offices at the end of the month. Additional Information.

“A perforated section marked Part If has been attached for the purpose of providing some additional information relating principally to industrial and occupational status. This addition to the form necessitated the passing of a new Order-in-Council under the Employment Promotion Act, which is dated April 4, 1938. Completion of both parts of the form is compulsory. “The Government is seeking in effect nothing more than accurate employment statistics. More up-to-date and detailed information about employment and unemployment in various occupations and industries is essential. This information has been available in the past only in the census returns, which are collected not more often than once in five years. This is not sufficiently informative to show the short-term trend in employment. “The information which will be obtained from the new questions will be of great value in assessing the trend of employment and of the relative movements in different industries. It will also provide a reliable groundwork which has been conspicuously absent in the past, for planning the availability of qualified labour in various occupations, for giving direction to the work of the vocational guidance centres, and generally for the proper administration of social services. These questions in the supplementary part of the form are quite simple and straightforward, and in any case do not include the name of the person concerned. Collection of Taxation. “Contrary to common belief, the Labour Department does not now have any connection with the collection of employment tax. The present Government amended the law in 1936 to place this work under the Commissioner of Taxes. The Minister of Labour is concerned only as the Minister in Charge of the Employment Promotion Act from which the Commissioner of Taxes derives his authority in the matter. The declarations are dealt with by the Income Tax Department and treated with the same confidence as are income tax returns.’ The particulars of industrial and occupational status in Part II but not the name of the taxpayer will be made available to the Government Statistician, who will collate them for the information of the departments interested in their application to various social service activi ties. “Additional forms can if required be obtained from any Money Order Office or from the employment tax branch of the Land and Income Tax Department, Wellington. They are required to be lodged before the end of this month. Every male person who is not. wholly exempt from the registration levy is required to furnish a declaration. The same obligation applies to women over 20 years of age who have received income in excess of £5O, other than salary or wages. The exemptions from these requirements are set out fully on the back of the form."