PROPERTY TAX REPORT.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 957, 4 July 1890, Page 9

PROPERTY TAX REPORT.

The report of the Property-Tax Commissioner on the property assessment, 1888, was laid on the table yesterday week. Mr Sperrey remarks that the returns show that ths net property in the Colony was almost the cams in 1886 as in 1889, the totals of both being above £128,000,000. Real property has decreased from £ 116,376,659 to £ 111,1*7,714, but personal property increased from £82,540,315 to £55,530,210. The total value of real property is thus arrived at Crown lands, £12,205,703; Native lauds, £5,790,366 ; education, churoh, municipal, and other reserves, £8,933,415 ; taxable real estate of persons and companies, £45,810,873 ; and non-taxable real estate of persons and companies, £33,397.357. The largest decreases have been in Auckland and Otago. Wellington shows an increase of rather more than two and a half millions. In personal property there is a decrease of £777,051 in live stock ; a slight decrease in produce ; an increase of about a million in the total value of stock-in-trade, merchandise, machinery, and plant, etc ; a trifling decrease in furniture, household goods, plate, etc.; an increase of over two millions in cash returned j a decrease of nearly one million in mortgages returned for assessment; a decrease of nearly £270,000 in debts, and a decrease of nearly £750,000 in other personal property, including £6,562,713, the balance of the assetß over the liabilities of the banks doing business in the Colony. The classification of owners of personal property shows 23 above £200,000; 27,479 returning less than £100; 11,866 between £IOO aDd £2OO ; 57,381 persons return not more than £IOOO. Coanting the exemption amount in, 3028 pay Jbax on less than £100; 2870 pay on between £IOO and £2OO. Those who pay less than £2 10s a year number 13,035; 3463 pay between £2 10s and £4 3s 4d a yrsr ; 4077 pay between £4 3a 4d and £8 6s 8d ; 4606 pay between £8 6sßdand £4113s 4d; 630 pay between £4l 13s 4d and £B3 6s 8d ; leaving 516 who pay the larger amount. The tax was paid more punctually in 1889-90 than previously. As to freeholders of land, 27 owners hold over 50,000 acres, value £5,192,049; 223 owners held betweet 10,u00 ana ou,ooo acres, value £10,315,246 ; 1634 owners hold between 1000 and 10,000 acres, value £13,228,940. in other respects a!«o t-ha paper is a valuable statistical document.