STATE’S SHARE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20378, 15 October 1940, Page 2

STATE’S SHARE

43/- FOR EVERY 26/HEAVY TAXATION BURDEN' SHAREHOLDERS SUFFER Reference was made to the burden of taxation by. the chairman, Mr. E. M. Edkins, of the Farmers’ Co-operative Auctioneering Company, Limited, fn his address at the annual meeting of shareholders in Hamilton. “It is with diffidence,” he said, “that I make reference to taxation which, under the guise of war necessity, is being levied by the present Administration. As will be seen from the balance-sheet, from a net earning of approximately £69,000, the Government will take £43,000. In other words the Government, without any capital invested, without any risk of loss, and without; any responsibility, takes approximately 43s for every 26s left to the shareholders, whose capital and enterprise have made the earning possible. “Were ail this necessary for war purposes, I doubt if any voice would be raised in protest, but when we consider that, companies such as ours have to pay on their assessed profits 8s 9d in the pound, plus 15 pOr cent for war purposes, plus Is in the pound for national security, and plus Is in the pound for social security—which in effect means 9s 9d in the pound for civil expenditure and 2s 3f!d in the -pound for war purposes—l think we have the right to object.. . Opinions From Abroad “It should be borne in mind that the constitution of a co-operative association such as ours is an aggregation of small interests, yet the small shareholder is taxed at the maximum graduated rate, “May I bring before your notice the remarks of two eminent men, one an ex-President of the United States, and the other a former Chancellor of the British ; Exchequer,” said Mr. Edkins. “The firsf, when criticising. war taxation in America just after the last war, said: ‘We must readjust our internal taxation to remove the • burdens it imposes upon the will to create and produce, whether that will is the will of the big corporation or of the individual.’ Restricting Enterprise “The other, in a speech on the evils of excessive taxation, spoke as follows: ‘First, as to production, I think the proposition Is indisputable that heavy taxation restricts enterprise. A business cannot be developed without much toil and considerable risk of capital. The stimulus which urges men to venture upon new developments is in* large measure the hope of additional profit. They will not risk their capital .if in the event of their labours proving successful nearly the whole of the reward is to be taken from them. I do. not say that this is necessarily so, but I do say that in the ordinary circumstances of human nature heavy taxation cripples enterprise.

“• ‘Again, in a progressive undertaking a considerable part of the profits every year is kept in the business. . The savings of one year become the capital in the next. Additional capital is essential to development, and there is no means of obtaining it except from the savings of the community. Heavy taxation which impounds these savings deprives our commerce and industry of an essential condition of growth.’ ”