PICKING POOR MAN’S POCKET

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 August 1920, Page 2

PICKING POOR MAN’S POCKET

PROTEST IN THE HOUSE

THE WOHKEIt PAYS

AGAINST TAXATION

to the “Star.”) WELLINGTON, August 10. The appearance of the annual Taxation J3il providing for the assessment of land and income tax cieated quite a long discussion in the House to-day, in spite of the piompt declaration by the Minis-It-i of Finance that it was an old measure, involving no change. The tenor of the discussion was to emphasise that owing to the present injustice in the incidence of taxation, there ought to be a revision of the taxation system.

Mr Massey explained that the Finance Committee of the House vvac considering the taxation proposals and would report about a week hence. There would be no change in the land and income in>. this year. A portion of the Government’s fresh taxation proposals were before this Committee, and later in the session a compiebensive Bill dealing with land and income tax and the incidence of taxation and’the amendment of the death duties would be referred to the Finance Committee. Thus there would be lots of opportunities to deal with the incidence of taxation.

Mr Yeitcli suggested that the Government was preaching economy, bnt it was not possible among the mass of the people, because they had nothing to squander: yet wealthy people escaped so lightly that they could go in fir extravagance. The Government proposed to take 6jr millions from the people in the Customs and excise duty or an increase of a million sterling over last year. If to this snm was added the usual merchant’s profit it would he seen that the Government proposed to collect from the head of the average family something like 2As a week. Yet the proposed increase in the land tax was trifling. It looked as if the House was being delayed and kept doing minor work, while the law draftsmen were completing hills for which they got instructions too late. Mr Parry estimated that the Customs taxation paid by a worker with two children totalled 12| per cent, of his total earnings, though the average income tax was about 3 per cent, of the wealthy man’s income. Mr Statham pointed out that another year was being lost if the present Bill was put through perpetuating* all the old injustices. He regretted that tire Government failed to bring in its taxation reforms before the annual taxing* hill was introduced. Hr Newman supported the last speaker’s proposal, declaring* that the Government admitted the injustice of the old plan of taxation, hut wanted to go on in the same old way. Several Labour members advocated the State appropriation of a substantial proportion of the increment in land values. The discussion ended without further Ministerial enlightenment about the Government’s future taxation policy.