THE INCOME TAX IN MANY LANDS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2840, 19 August 1908, Page 83

THE INCOME TAX IN MANY LANDS.

SOME ABATEMENTS, AND THE REASON.

In nearly all countries there is either 'an income tax proper or taxes of the mature of income tax — taxes on particular plasses of income, on trades and professions, on land and other property. Those which have a general income tax ftn the British pattern are the German Austrl*, Italy, Spain, the Swies .Cantons, Pentnari^ Norway, Sweden, Holland, and the British colonies, with some ftcebtlons. Where yr* pepre especiayy is on" the |imlt q! exempion. AIJ nations go on *he theoif tfcM> tne "minimum of subajstJ&cg" phobia be exempt from t-he tax. i?u£ ,l£ jnpst Cl^ep that minimum is fixed at a ■ffagriOTigly 19^ figure fe Xiajy, igj ig-

' stance, it is only £16, in Norway £18, and in Saxony £20. The following list shows the income below which no tax is imposed : — Italy »,. „ „. £16 Austria ,* „ £50 Saxony; «« „ £20 Norway. .. .. £18 TTwboa .cots Sweden .. .. £24 „ . ,„ , , War iemburg . . £2o Spain (State em- s^ n <priv | te ployees) .. . . £31 dnviduals) .. £45 Denmark £33 to £44 Baden .. .. „ £45 Prussia ,', ,^ £45 Holland „ .. £54 Thus in these countries the working men have to pay, as well as the clerks, i governesses, tutors, and many others who escape in England. In Switzerland the limit is lower still, and likewise in some of the smaller German States. — Taxed on a £5 Income. — People with an income above £3 a year have to pay in the little German State j of Saxe Altenburg, and in -some cantons of Switzerland people with only £5 a year are assessed. In Bavaria there is no exemption for males, except in the case of wage-earners under 18 years of age. But widows, orphans, and divorced women with less than £60 a year pay nothing. Certain classes of people are freed from the burden altogether in Prussia and other States, but not because of their inability. Then the liberal abatement in the case I of larger incomes which we enjoy is uni known in some countries. In the poorest of them — Spain — there is no abatement. In Italy there is practically none — juet a trifle on the very lowest incomes — nor is there any in Holland or in Baden. — How Debtors Escape.— I Other countries, however, go on the sensible plan that an individual who has children to rear, or has sickness in the bouse, or is embarrassed by debt, should not pay his full pound of flesh. In Prussia, for instance, if the income be under £150 a year a small allowance of £2 10s is made for each child under 14 years of age. Suppose a man with four such children has £100 a year, he pays the tax on £90 only. Moreover, when he has three children or more he is placed one degree lower on the scale of the graduated tax described below. Besides this small mercy, a Prussian Who has less than J8475 a year, 1b allowed come consideration when he is in debt, or has continuous illness in his family, or is maintaining poor relations, or on. the ground that the education of his children is expensive, and in case of- any special misfortune. — Abatement for Business Men. — The Dane enjoys much the same privileges. In Wurtemberg a curious exception in the way of abatement is made in favour of business men with an income of less than £250, and in Norway most elaboate provisions are made to prevent the burden weighing too heavily on people with large families. Before it was introduced here the system of graduation prevailed in foreign countries. In no two is it precisely the same, and we may take Prussia as an example. There a labourer with ■ £45 to £52 10s will pay a total sum- of six shillings, while a man with three times that income will pay between eight and~ nine times as much. The plan adopted is to divide incomes into six groups, the lowest of which pays a little over l£d in the pound and the highest about lOd. Here are a few examples of the graduated tax as paid in Prussia : — GROUP 1. Income. Tax. £45 to £52 IC' £0 6 0 £S2loto£6C j ..,090 £105 to £120 „ 1 16 0 £135 to £150 2 12 0 GROUP 2. £150 to £165 3 0 0 £165 to £180 3 10 0 £210 to £225 540 £275 to £300 7 6 0 GROUP 3. £300 to £325 8 0 0 £400 to £425 11 12 0 £450 to £475 ' . . 13 16 0 > In group 4 are included incomes run- . ning from £475 to £1525, which pay sume of £15 up to £45 per annum. Group 5 ends at just under £5000, and the tax varies from £48 to £195. : In group 6, £5000 pays a tax of £2000, j and then for each £250 in excess of this . j a sum of £10 is paid. I In Saxony an income as low as £20 pays ■ i Is, an income of £50 pays 10s ; when, it < '■ reaches £140 — still below our exemption limit — the payment is £2 16s, while incomes of £5000 and upwards pay 5 per ■ cent., or Is in the pound. Striking an average, the northern and central European countries have a tax of about 4^d in the pound on incomes of 1 £200 a year, and generally about onethird more on incomes of £500, though » in some places it is double. Many countries make a distinction between earned and unearned incomes, all in favour of the worker, with the excep- ! tion of Spain, where the earned income j pays the higher tax.— T. F. Manning.