BRITAIN’S HEAVY TAXATION

Southland Times, Issue 23988, 1 December 1939, Page 7

BRITAIN’S HEAVY TAXATION

YEARLY SPENDING NOW £2,400,000,000 RICH MEN “SEVERELY SOAKED” FEARFUL SACRIFICES EXPECTED (United Press Assn.—Telegraph Copyright) (Received November 30, 6.30 p.m.) LONDON, November 29. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir John Simon, in the House of Commons said that the expenditure on the war and other services was now equivalent to £2,400,000,0(0 a year. This represented a twothirds increase on pre-war ing“The war,” he said, “may impose the most fearful sacrifices, some of which we had hardly begun to dream were possible. From September to the end of the financial year the rate of spending was £2,400,000,000 annually and represented an increase of two-thirds on our previous . spending. We have ’ struggled to get an enormous contribution from taxation—name ly nearly £1,000,000,000 yearly but we must borrow another £1,000,000,000 to meet the expenditure this year, in which there have been only seven war , months. _ Future requirements will be considerably greater. The present annual expenditure is already half the total income of the community.

“I have not shown any unwillingness to greatly burden the very rich,” said Sir John. “There are 10,000 persons in the country with an annual income of £lO,OOO and upward, of which the aggregate income is £180,000,000. From that total I take £120,000,000 income tax. The surtax, if I took all of it, would be 5 per cent, of the amount I need to borrow this year, and it would keep the country going from seven to 10 days. Moreover, I take an additional £40,000,000 from this group yearly in death’ duties, making £160,000,000 a year. The rich are already severely soaked and there are not enough of them to find any considerable fraction of the money needed. Taxation of big incomes can reach a point where it may gravely interfere with the fulfilment of obligations. Therefore, the only way of democracy to meet the terrible burden is sacrifice by the whole population. It is impossible to maintain the peace -time living standard. It is said that victory in this war might be an empty shell, but defeat will mean the triumph of a system under which/no man can call his soul his own. The stake for which we are fighting will benefit every single citizen.”