NO RELIEF

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26545, 21 August 1947, Page 6

NO RELIEF

TAX BURDEN BUDGET FORECAST PENSION INCREASES LIKELY Parliamentary Reporter WELLINGTON, Aug. 20. An increase of 5s a week in both the age benefit and the full disability war pension is expected to be announced in the Budget, which will be presented in the House of Representatives to-mor-row night by the Minister of Finance, Mr Nash. Taxpayers who may be anticipating some relief from the present - rates of taxation are likely to be disappointed. The possibility of an upward movement in social security payments was recently indicated by Mr Nash. When announcing, about 10 days ago, that it was intended to withdraw or reduce subsidies at present paid on a number of commodities, he. said that any adjustment of social security benefits or war pensions which might be necessary on account of changed conditions would be announced in the Budget. The increase in social security rates and war pensions is likely to be restricted to the age benefit and the full disability war pension, and no upward adjustment is expected in other social security benefits such as the family allowance of 10s a week for each The present rate of the age benefit is £2 a week, with the full benefit for an under-age wife, making £4 a week for a married couple in cases where the husband htts reached 60 years of age. If the increase of five shillings were not granted, it would be the. first time that pension increases have been made by the present Government in units of less than ss. Adjustments may also be announced in the remuneration of public servants to bring them into line with the new scale of minimum standard wages fixed by the Court of Arbitration in its recent announcement. To-morrow.night’s Budget will be the tenth to be presented in the House by Mr Nash, although he has been Minister of Finance for 12 Budgets. The others were presented on his behalf by the late Mr M. J. Savage in 1937 when Mr Nash was marketing negotiations with the United Kingdom Government, and by the Prime Minister, Mr Fraser, when Mr Nash was New Zealand Minister to Washington. In being Minister of Finance for 12 Budgets, Mr Nash achieves a record, exceeding that previously held by Sir Joseph Ward, who was Minister of Finance for a period of 11 Budgets.