UNEMPLOYMENT TAXES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20987, 25 September 1931, Page 8

UNEMPLOYMENT TAXES.

Another long list of definitions of wages and salaries and income and of moneys accruing to individuals which are excluded from both categories for the purpose of assessing the special unemployment taxes has been issued by the Unemployment Board. In view of the multiplicity of these decisions and the reasonable doubt whether they receive serious public attention, it would appear that complete enforcement of the taxes will be difficult. Parliament simply declared that taxation should be based upon the total earnings or income of all individuals, and left to departmental officials the vast task of determining its practical application. Many of the points upon which decisions have been given could scarcely have been anticipated when the legislation was drafted, but the haste with which it was prepared is no excuse for the ambiguity of its provisions regarding the special taxation of income derived from land. As the Act stands, the tax is payable on "income derived by any person from his direct use or occupation of any land." There is no reference to "profits or gains," the customary definition of income in other taxation legislation; in fact, the Act literally subjects gross income from land to the special taxation. When the point was put 'to the Minister of Labour, he replied that this exceeded the Government's intention and promised that regulations would be issued limiting the operation of this slipshod legislation to a basis to be decided by the Unemployment, Board. Since many thousands of farmers are very intimately concerned, and the first instalment of the tax is due on November 1, the necessary regulations should be made available as promptly as possible, and accompanied by clear and simple explanations of the methods to be followed in compiling the returns of income required.