TAXATION OF PENSIONS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22627, 15 January 1937, Page 13

TAXATION OF PENSIONS

v^j r) —Before Sir James Parr tries to persuade any more of us to settle in this country lie might use his influence in making things easier tor us by giving us a fair deal, for otherwise every possible warning should be given to those who contemplate settling here on fixed incomes. Our superannuations are never very large, however important the posts we may have held, and to have them regarded as "unearned" and most heavily taxed is no very great attraction for others. Our money comes from England, or, in the case of Uncivil service, from some other part ol the Mm pi re ami is spent here, and therefore a clear gam to Xew Zealand trade. The pensioners of the local civil service, etc., draw their money from liere and spend it here, yet they have battled against the "unearned'' income stigma and successfully, so they are on a much better footing. The distinction is unfair, for many of us have spent, our lives in lonely' places and extreme climates where our work was infinitely more trying than that of the local civil servants. We are penalised with a heavy burden of taxation and have no clients, patients, customers or tenants to pass any of it on to, so that we are at rock bottom. Every rise in prices, hailed joyously by the traders concerned and looked upon as a step forward, makes things harder for us. A rise in wool means that our clothes must be conserved to the uttermost; a rise in butter means that we must go short, and so on. I fail to see why more of us should be brought here, for the lare hack is more than we can spare from our leavings (after taxes have been paid), and we are helpless This is a poor country for people on fixed incomes—we are not even eligible for the dole! Ex-C.C.S.