SERVE OR PAY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23601, 9 March 1940, Page 14

SERVE OR PAY

Sir, —T am highly amused at 1 Ftauraki Plains" suggestion of "serve or pay." A little mental arithmetic will quickly disclose the fact that the levyill'' of a special income tax on the shirker to bring his pay down to that of a soldier will give him exemption from income tax ho is now called on to pay. Just work it out. In the course of a year a soldier receives:—-Pay, 365 days at 's per day. C 127 15s; food. 52 weeks at £1 per week. £52; clothing, .blankets, hoots, uniforms, etc.. say, £2O; accommodation at 10s per week, £26; total, £225 15s. On this sum the soldier pays no income tax. whereas the stay-at-home, cushy job holder would pay on £25 15s, which amounts to_ approximately £2 Ds lOd. I'rom this it will be seen that the shirker would be that much better off under "Ffauraki Plains" taxation scheme, Another point that should be noted is that the soldier also <rets his entertainments free, his beer much cheaper, and much of his holiday travelling free. This letter is not meant to suggest that the soldier is getting too much. As an ex-soldier of over four years' service in the last war, I say emphatically that we cannot give our soldiers enough. My only point in writing is to show the foolishness of "Hauraki Plains" and his suggestion to tax the stay-at-home. Quite Plain.