CUSTOMS RETURNS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18594, 3 January 1935, Page 2

CUSTOMS RETURNS

SUBSTANTIAL INCREASE

AUCKLAND FIGURES

Customs duties collected at Auckland during 1934 show a substantial all-round increase, continuing the steady upward movement noted two years ago. Ordinary Customs revenue lias increased by 13-4 per cent, from £2,256,623 to £2,608,010. There was a« increase of 14.6 per cent, in 1933, and o£ 18.4 per cent, in the preceding year. The combined receipts from petrol and tire duties have increased from £502,217 j to £558,666. and in tire duties alone the falling-off in 1933 of £4761 has been converted into an increase of £5864. Motor-1 spirit duties yielded £532,466, as against £481,881 in 1933, an increase of £50,585, j or 10.4 per cent. There was ap increase of 4.3 per cent, in 1933, overtaking the | decline of 7.4 per c ant in the preceding j year. The total under the three heads j was £3,166,676, which shows an increase of £407.836, or approximately U per cent. The increases in 1933 and 1932 were 12.2 per cent, and 13 per cent, respectively, so that the general movement has been remarkably steady. I Ordinary customs revenue for 1934 exceeded the corresponding figure for 1933 ip every month of the year. In the last three months the amounts collected established a record for several years ( past, the record monthly total, and in- 1 cidentally one of the largest for_ some time, being £243,361 Collected in Novem- | her. Only in February was the figure , for petrol and tire duties lower than that for the corresponding month of 1-932. Excise duty on beer showed an increase, but not to the same extent. During the two previous, years flic duty yielded £132,266. Last year there was an increase of £2BIO. or approximately 2.2 per cent. There was an increase of 4.2 per cent, in 1933, and of 11 per cent, two years ago. For its first full calendar year of its operation the sales tax brought in £628.347. In 1933, during less than ten months, the yield was £421,865. WELLINGTON FIGURES BETTER CONDITIONS ! A steady increase in imports and in business generally is reflected in the customs revenue collected at Wellington in 1934, and the amount is well over £400.000 up on that for 1933 The net customs revenue collected last month totalled £200,003, compared with £160.962 for December, 1933, an increase of £42,041. For the whole of 1934 the revenue was £2,357.117, compared with £1,949,068 in 1933, an Increase of £408.049. The duty collected on motor spirit last month totalled £68,325, compared with £72,053 for December, 1933. The petrol duty for the 12 months was £702,771 and £700,731 respectively, an increase of £2040. Tire tax last month totalled £2033, compared with £962 in December, 1933. For the year the figures were £22.249 and £16,228 respectively. 1 Collections of sales tax for December totalled £74,256, a record for the fifth successive month, compared with £57,613. The total collected since February 10. 1933, to the end of the year was '£1,184,925. Beer excise collection for .December totalled £7828, compared with £6444 in the same month of 1933. For 1934 the figures were £56.361, against £54,138 for 1933.

IMPROVEMENT AT • DUNEDIN The Customs returns in Dunedin for December, with the figures for Deoein>er, 1933, in parentheses, were as folows:—Customs, £51,1198 (£51,613); beer, 923,111 (£24,120); sales tax, £21,723 £19,604). The figures for 1934 were as follows, 1933 figures appearing in parentheses!: —Custom's, £662,060 (£586,281); >eer, £133,787 (£226,617); sales tax, 2231,647 (£158,758); petrol tax, £157.246 (£157,220); tire tax, £7187 (£6847).