MOTOR TAXATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20875, 18 May 1931, Page 13

MOTOR TAXATION.

Sir, —In the llerai.d of May 13, the latest bulletin prepared by tho economics department of Canterbury College is quoted, inter alia, as follows:—"Motor taxation is already excessively high, and as transport is perhaps tho key industry of tho Dominion, and much motor transport enters into costs of production, these taxes should be reduced rather than increased." The statement I believe to be incorrect, and the advice unsound. The Transport Department report, 1930, shows that the normal expenditure on roads in the Dominion, excluding the increase due to motor transport, woidd be in the vicinity of £2,800.000 The actual expenditure for the year ended March 31, 1929, amounted to approximately £5,700,000, leaving approximately £2,900,000 as an estimate of the additional expenditure due to motor traffic. Petrol tax, tyro tax, fees, etc., amounted to £1,470,000 in 1928-29, and to £1,780,000 in 1929-30. Customs duties aggregated £1,332,000 in 1929-30. Even allowing for the full amount of customs duties, there is no sign of excessive taxation in these figures. While more recent figures show an increase in petrol tax, there is a decrease in customs duties to offset, it. If commercial vehicles paid an unfair share of taxation, there might be some justification for the statement, but, while difficulties arise in assessing the fair shares of cars, lorries and buses, there is no doubt whatever that lorries with solid rubber tyres cause far more damage than is covered by their taxation. As regards the suggestion that motor taxation should be reduced, it may be pointed out that improvements to a road reduce the running costs of tho traffic using that road. The report quoted above gives the cost of road transport as £28,000,000 for 1929, not including the cost of roads given above (£5,700,000), and the possibility of an additional million spent on the roads producing a saving of two million in running costs naturally follows from comparison of the magnitude of the figures. Detailed figures given in the same report show that there is a probability that "sealing" a macadam road will lead to a reduction in running costs of about three-farthings per vehicle mile. On a macadam road carrying, say, 160 vehicles a day, a saving in running costs of 10s a day or £l3O per annum might be expected to follow after "scaling" tho road. The additional cost of scaling will vary from place to place, but spread over its useful life, will in many casts not exceed £9O per annum. It may be said with confidence that there are many hundreds of miles of macadam road in New Zealand on which an additional £1 spent in ''sealing" will save £2 in running costs, and it seems reasonable that the additional cost of the roads should be provided by motor taxation. If taxation of motor transport- is not spent on the roads there is a legitimate grievance, but there is little doubt, that additional taxation judiciously spent on road improvements, should bo welcomed by motorists as a profitable proposition. W. Arthur Gray. Chartered Civil Engineer.