Lower Income Tax Or Higher Interest

Northern Advocate, 14 December 1943, Page 4

Lower Income Tax Or Higher Interest

(Special) AUCKLAND, This Day. The expectation that 1944 would be a busy year, the only disturbing possibility locally being a decrease in primary production was expressed by the chairman of the Auckland Stock Exchange (Mr J. W. Frater) at the annual meeting. New Zealand, he said, owed its prosperity to the farming community and a comprehensive plan to encourage production under a competent and sympathetic Minister was badly needed. / “For the first time since war broke out, vve can look back on a year free from material fluctuations in market prices,” said Mr Frater. Stock Exchange securities had shown a general appreciation over the year. An outstanding success of the year was the Third Liberty Loan of £35,000,000. A large percentage of the population was now holding Government securities and this was reflected in a steady increase in Stock Exchange business. Interest rates on Government securities had been at low levels for two years taut only in the past year had share values appreciated proportionately: i Commenting on taxation, Mr Frater said that while the present scale was doubtless necessary to finance the war there could be no question but that the charge which absorbed the major proportion of company profits, must be drastically reduced if an undesirable rise in interest rates, which were entirely out of line with all other charges, was to be avoided.