TAXES AND ENTERPRISE.
The suggestion that a further reduction of taxation may be made this year affords some measure of encouragement, but Mr. Massey should offer the country something more tangible than * a • conditional anticipation. After all, the optimistic generalisations, that are characteristic of his public utterances are only emotional stimulants, and enterprise of every character needs more practical tonics. None would be more effective than a definite undertaking by the Government that the next adjustment will bring the maximum income tax down to 5s in the pound. Openings for new capital have been sought ia New Zealand, the opportunities have been judged satisfactory, bur actio;, has been halted by the formidable shadow of taxation. The most repellent feature of the whole elaborate system is the income tax. The promoters of new industries and . commercial adventures are prepared for the risks of loss at the outset, but few can be bold enough to enter upon an undertaking when the prospects of success are threatened by the certainty that half the profits will be seized by the collector of taxes. Those who hesitate to extend their operations and those who have come to the Dominion and retreated in disappointment will not be convinced by cautious forecasts of possible reductions. But if the Government would take a bold course, naming a definite figure of taxation, the whole prospect would be removed from uncertainty to reality. Objection may be made that it would be against Parliamentary traditions to anticipate the Budget in a matter of so much importance. But at (I critical period in the Dominion's history, precedents must be surrendered to necessity. Last year, Mr. Massey broke away from tradition by delivering a Budget that gave no hint of his taxation proposals. This year, he should balance that departure by anticipating the Budget, pledging the Government to limit its expenditure to a scale for which j income tax on the basis of 5s would be sufficient, and thus giving to the country a potent stimulus to new activity and fresh development.
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New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18300, 17 January 1923, Page 8
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339TAXES AND ENTERPRISE. New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18300, 17 January 1923, Page 8
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