TAXATION PAYMENTS

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 11 August 1928, Page 5

TAXATION PAYMENTS

LAND AND INCOME.

HOW SHEEPOWNERS FARE. AIR Ti. E. HOLLAND’S COMPLAINT (By Telegraph—Special to The Stax.) WELLINGTON. Aug. 10. City business men, bowed under a. heavy buiden of taxation, may seize with' eagerness upon an important 'hint bv- the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates) that. he would be prepared to exempt them from land tax payments. Air Coates made the statemerit during a rapid cross-fire of iuter-itelion.-i during the Budget Speech of the Leader of the Opposition (Air H. E. Holland) in the House. That wealthy profit - making sheepowners with tremendous annua,', incomes from wool sales paid not one penny in income tax was the point which Air Holland, the Leader of the Opposition, was -stressing at the time. He drew attention to the fact that the Minister of Finance noted a falling off in income tax receipts of £148,487. There w as 119 reason in the world why income tax receipts should show a deficit, said Air Holland. The reason for this big decline wa® to be fotmd in the legislation of past years, which exempted certain classes from the payment of income tax. For the year, 1927, aa against 192 G, wool prices had increased in the aggregate by about £BOO,OOO. As all members knew, it did not matter how wealthy a ekeepmvner , might be, lie did not pay a penny in income tax.

Chorus of Reform voices : “Wrong.”

Air Holland: "He does not pay because he is a landowner. If taxation were levied on the sales of wool the Minister of Finance would not show a falling off in receipts, but a big ineiea.se. Da.'getyX figures showed that this year’s wool sales resulted in 658,;(K> bales being exported. At an average of £24 per bole, the .aggregate value would be about £15,800,000 for the current year. The value of the wool exported last year was £12,030,815; thus the exports this year went up over £3,000,000 in value. If to this figure one added the increased price paid for wool not exported but a used, in New Zealand mills, the extra yield from wool sales totalled about _4£60.000 more & than last year, yet there was a. falling off in income tax :cc«?ipts.” SHIPOWNERS’ PROFITS AND TAXES.

Air Holland went on to ishovv 'how certain large sheep-owning families made tremendous profits without contributing anything to the income tax revenue. Oiie family in the Wellington district with 160,000 sheep had an annual income of from £90,000 to £IOO,OOO. That figure wag computed on a, basis of 101 b of wool per sheep, which am authority on sheep-fanning had assured him was reasonable. Taking into account wool obtained: from lambs, wool went up by 4jd per lb, and am extra £20,000 went into the •jackets c:f this family, but they paid no income tax at ad. “Surely,” said Air Holland, “here i s a source of income that should be taxed. No Government could find justification for exempting families like that.” A handin', of sheepowners obtained the major share of the profit from wool sales. Fifteen, owners possessed upwards of 20,000 tsheep each. Worked out on the same basis, the increase in their income was £65,000 free of income tax. Then 119 owners had from 10,000 to 20,000 sheep each, and their incomes went up by £227,000. Another 507 owners, each had flocks of from 5000 to under 10,000. and they onioyed an increase of £750.” The Alinister of Finance (the Horf. Dovvnie Stewart) : “These men would prefer to nay income tax.” The Leader of the Opposition : “Pm prepared to assist to make them pay it anytime.” The Prime Alinister: “And take off the land tax.” 'Air Holland: “No;, certainly not.” Tfie Minister of Finance; “Not take the land tax off?” Air Hol/and: ‘ ‘Will the Prime AL.nister be -pippared to take the land tax off the city business mail?” The Prime Alinister: “Yes.” Air Holland: “Then let him bring in his Bill. Wliat will the local bodies say about it when there i.s no tax on land?” The Prime Alinister: “Nonsense.” Mr Holland: “I know what they would sav.” • . Air Coates': “You are mixing the local and the State tax:” Mr Holland: “Now the Prime Minister is talking about the national tax. He is prepared to go half and to stop there. ”

WHY RECEIPTS WENT DOWN. The Alinister of Education (the Hon. R. A. Wright'. who followed, suggested that the plain truth about reduction in the income tax receipts was that last year’s were ’evied on depressed incomes. The Leader of tha •Micosition had evidently overlooked the fact that big landholders such as the Crown leaseholders did pay income tax.

Air E. A. Ra.nsme (Pahiatua): “Rut not the land tax.” The Alinister: “I don’t .suppose you want to tax them every way. _ I don’t care what a man’s income is, if you gja beyond a certain point he cease® to earn an income. Labour members asked . for higher pension® and higher salaries, he said, and if they succeeded in their demands there would be no income left for the vvoo'-c'.roweiiis. Nobody ®eemed to have a good word for the large landowner, but munv had heavy .mortgages and they had their bad f»>ears. If an individual paid iv reasonable amount of taxation, that was all that could be expected of him. As for the point that Wnd tax as well as income tax was paid in the boroughs, it must not be overlooked that before paying income tax the taxpayer was able to deduct per lent, on the capital value of his land and buildings and in many cases that sinrolv wiped off one of the taxes. IVikiim the land tax off eitv areas would" not. affect local rates, which woro levied on a different- basis.