SALES TAX

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 33, 8 August 1933, Page 10

SALES TAX

TEMPTING TO TREASURERS

Applications for sales tax rebates, amounting to £4,000,000, have been lodged with the Commonwealth Treasury,^ and they are still pouring in. The Assistant Treasurer (Sir W. Massy Greene) made this announcement recently to a deputation from the Sydney Master Tailors' Association, which sought a more equitable distribution of the burden of the sales tax. \ .It was stated by the deputation that it wns-impossible,'.owing to keen competition, aiid the existing depression, to pass on- the sales tax to purchasers of suits. There was a differentiation between manufacturers and general stores, the former being required to register under the Sales Tax Act. In some cases, the master tailor paid a tax of 98 9d per suit, compared with his competitors' payment of from 3s 6d to 4s. The Minister, in reply, said that the representations would be placed before the Cabinet.- The sales tax, however, was a big source of revenue, having produced over £9,000,000 last year. "The public," he said, "pays the sales tax. It all comes out of the pockets of the public in the long run, aad I am inclined to think that the. chief cause of the difficulty is not so much the sales tax, but the fact that times are bad." Sir Massy said he appreciated the position of the tailors, and realised the very severe competition in the tailoring trade.