TAXES FOR ALL

Hokitika Guardian, 20 June 1934, Page 3

TAXES FOR ALL

A WIDESPREAD NET! cost of: government; While' the national deficit ha s been reduced, this ;is not . the only story told by. the recently published public accounts for the year H 33-34 (says a statoment by the Associated Chambers of Commerce.) The taxation figures beam silent witness to the real heroes ,of tho ; year’s work, namely, the taxpayers—whether they have carried the tax burden as firms or companies, or as individuals paying income tax, sales tax. and'dll the other taxes and duties, direct’or indirect, visible or just as painfully invisible —who have provideu the wherewithal for the conduct of the country’s affairs and the service of its debts. $ Four Million, Increase. The amount taken by general government taxation in 1933-34 is shown as £-21,487,000,■ which is an increase of •tivo ./niUlogf on 1032-33, and an increase ofa four million on 1931-32. This impost' is ever greater than it appears, because the money has had to be providedmuDof a heavily reduced national income. While tli e national income ha s fallen sharply; taxation has not merely remained stationary which would have been burdensome enoughhut has risen steeply. At a time when the people needed to retain in their pockets more of tneir reduced earnings, they have had ; to pay a darger proportion of their "income to provide the same tax yield as in previous years, and in addition to this, they luv. paid ' over 'a further four million pounds for the carrying on of the affairs of State, quite distinct from local government taxation. The taxation net lias been spread so wide that small and few,' if-any) are the fish that have escaped it. Indeed, there are thousands of people who aro coming to realise, as never before, that everybody is a taxpayer in some form or another. There are those who have thought in'the past that because their wages-or .'salaries happened to be below the income tax exemption and because there was therefore to bill forthcoming from the income tax collector, that the cost of Government was no concern of theirs.

Probably owning no property,, and therefore regarding themselves as being, free from encumbrances, they had for their use schools, hospitals, highways, health services and Ml sorts of other facilities, which they were aware cost a great deal of money, but which, in their belief,'was all paid’ for by taxes on somebody else. They are now discovering that the cost of: running the country i s paid bv themselves.

“A Fair, Cost.” By reason of. Customs .duties and sales tax, thdy.. ai'e pbrf ed articles they buy • by. excise, duties (arid osales tax they, pay' again- to government on locally H manufactured goods;;they pay more taxes on thfljj receipts and cheques they give,' and on money ili'eymay sudceocl to op he given ; at the'grocery store, at the tobacconj ist’s, at bowser .stations, .in .restaurj ants ; and even on ;, rq,cgc6.ursesj they go on paying taxes • although unencumbered with house property, they pay taxes through their rents, otherwise the owneijs would hot build to let;; they pay taxes-through their gas bills, laundry bills and fuel bills. In fact, the people have learned they are paying taxes every time they spend their money, and even when they are dead and ; can no longer protest, the Government steps in and takes more faxes in, the form of death duties. There has therefore grown a far better understanding of th e fact that no Gov-, eminent has a bottomless purse into whiph it may dip to pay for various expenditure .ancf that whatever ;it spends it must take out of the pockets of the people. This is seen by the fact that the equivalent of half the total tax yield was needed to meet tho net cost of Government departments, quite ; apart from debt services and other permanent charges, and the expenditure on unemployment relief. Ability to Pay, \ L' 1.-, The tax bill of gqneral and focal govenment in New Zealand in 132-33 i was for 22A per cent of the national j income. 'ln this connection, a (terse overseas observer remarks that “it that tax bill had to he paid all at one time by the taxpayer by a direct tax , instead of in driblets in indirect taxes, ! there would: -/be a revolution which would be recorded in history as a very snappy affair, and one remarkably effective in reducing th e cost of Govern, ment.” The same ' observer remarks that good government at a fair cost can and will be delivered by politicians only when tho people demand it, and that this will only be achieved when a majority of the,, people are aware that they are taxpayers, and learn to weigh the cost of their demands for government against their ability to pay the cost. ... ” : There is very little evidence that real government economy is still being pursued in New Zealand. Good work ha s been , dp,yea by. the Government in this •' connection; - Imt no mention was made m fho last. Budget of any further economy measures.

So long as the people are being taxed beyond their "moans,' and so long as industry, trade and commerce are being depressed by excessive tax burdens, there can bn end to economy in government 1 ijvdiicli i s a necessity independent of vogue or fashion. The excessive cost of igovbrnment must of necessity ooine clown so as to allow early taxation relief'to be granted.