TAXATION

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 55, 13 September 1928, Page 10

TAXATION

(To the Editor.) Sir,—Mr. K. M'Leiinan's, attempt to discredit my statements concerning "Observer's" letter, on the taxation question is distinctly amusing. It is absurd on his part to suggest that 1 was "upset" by that gentleman's letter, or that I had failed to "frankly and fully state the position" in my reply. I take it Mr. M'Lennau is the candidate standing in the interests of tho socalled "United Party" for Wellington Suburbs. That party, I am given to understand, has adopted the figures attributed to Mr. Winston Churchill, as stating the per capita taxation in certain countries as per the list published in "Observer's" letter on Saturday, and is using them for propaganda purposes. They are doing this without any attempt to bring them into line with the actual facts. 1 am not in a position to say whether the British Chancellor of the Exchequer was correctly reported on not, but I can confidently state that the figures attributed to him are, as I formerly stated, grossly misleading and contrary to fact in the case of at least two countries, Australia and New Zealand. I clearly established their unreliability by quoting the official figures, as supplied by tho respective Government Statisticians for the Australian Commonwealth and for this Dominion. It was open to "Observer" to have ascertained the true position by consulting the New Zealand Official Year Book, and had he done so he would have found that the per capita taxation in tho Dominion in" 1913-14 was £5 10s, and not £C 3s as stated in the figures attributed to Mr. Winston . Churchill. Similarly, he would have seen that the 1926 figure was £12 7s lid, and not £14 0s Oil as also attributed to Mr. Churchill. I further showed (again quoting tho official figures) that tho per capita taxation in the case of New Zealand had fallen to £12 5s 6d in 1927 and to £11 8s 5d in 1928, (year ending 31st March in both cases), while tho Australian taxation quoted as £9 Is Od in Mr. Churchill's figures for 1926 was actually £12 19s 9d, with a rise to £14 5s Od in 1927, that being the average, of course, of both Commonwealth and States' taxation. In New South Wales the taxation per head of population in that State was £16 11s 7d and in Queensland £14 15s 2d in 1927. Mr. M'Lennan writes as if the increase in population which has reduced taxation on tho per capita basis, was confined to New Zealand alone, whereas, a matter of fact, Australia has gained appreciably more in population than New Zealand since the war. For the six years 1921-1927, New Zealand increased is population by 219,067, while the Australian increase was 704,148, so that the loading is distinctly against New Zealand on tho per capita basis, and it follows that, on that basis, more money is being taken from the people of Australia in the shape of taxation than is the case of New Zealand.—l am, etc., ERNEST A. JAMES. 12th September.