MORE CUSTOMS REVENUE

Southland Times, Issue 24039, 1 February 1940, Page 8

MORE CUSTOMS REVENUE

LARGE INCREASE IN JANUARY HIGHER RETURNS FROM PETROL * An increase of about £9850 in the amount of Customs revenue collected in Invercargill for the month of January, compared with the corresponding period last year, is shown by the returns issued by the department yesterday. The net Customs revenue also shows an increase, the returns being £4379 higher than for the. same period last year. There was a slight decrease in the return from sales tax, but beer and petrol showed a considerable increase. The higher revenue from petrol can be attributed to the lifting of the restrictions during January. The returns for the month of January, together with the figures for the same period last year, are as fol-

REVENUE INCREASES AT DUNEDIN BIG COLLECTION OF BEER DUTY (United Press Association) DUNEDIN, January 31. The gross Customs receipts for the port of Otago for the month of January reveal an increase in revenue of £30,000 oder the figure for the same month of last year. Nearly £14,000 of this is accounted for by extra beer duty collected because of there being five days in the month on which revenue was collected instead of only four. Another notable increase is that in petrol duty returns, but this is explained to some extent by the fact that the duty has been raised since last January. Customs duty increased by a little more than £lOOO to £58,839 and beer duty amounted to £46,493. Sales tax increased from £29,557 to £31,853 and petrol tax from £16,606 to £12,326. Gold duty was down by more than £2OO at £1757 and tyre tax dropped from £1172 to £537, a factor in this comparatively large fall in revenue being the long gaps between the arrival of shipments, only one of which would have a considerable effect on the month’s figures. Following are the detailed figures for January (shillings and pence omitted), together with the returns for the corresponding month last year:— Oct. 1940 Oct. 1939 £ £

MORE DUTY ON BEER AND PETROL RETURNS SHOW INCREASE AT CHRISTCHURCH (United Press Association) CHRISTCHURCH, January 31. An increase of more than £60,000 in the total revenue is shown in the Customs returns for the 10 months of the present financial year compared with the corresponding period last year. Increased duty on beer and petrol make the January returns substantially higher than last year, beer showing an increase approaching 100 per cent. Tile figures for the 10 months of the present financial year compared with

SLIGHT INCREASE AT WELLINGTON 'United Press Association) WELLINGTON, January 31. The net Customs revenue collected at the port of Wellington during January shows a slight increase compared with January 1939. The returns from sales tax show a substantial decrease but the collections from motor spirit and from beer show very heavy increases. War tax amounts to £26,686 compared with £28,060 in December and £32,353 in November. Last month’s figures with those for January 1939 also shown are as follows:— 1940 1939 £ £ Net Customs revenue 284,746 279.059 Sales tax 102,792 122,722 Beer duty 11,187 6,589 Motor spirit duty (at 6d a gallon) 59,087 43,564 Tyre tax 1,502 5,020 DECREASE IN SALES TAX COLLECTION INCREASE IN MOST ITEMS AT AUCKLAND (United Press Association) AUCKLAND, January 31. Customs revenue and motor spirit tax collected by the Customs Department at Auckland in January showed increases over the amount collected in the same month of last year. The excise on beer yielded more than twice as much as last year. There were, however, decreases in the amount of sales tax and tyre duty collected. The rise in Customs revenue in January was in marked contrast to the last three months of 1939, in each of which there was a heavy drop on the previous year’s figures. Motor spirit tax also showed a decline in the final three

months of last year as compared with 1938.

For the first 10 months of the current financial year Customs revenue showed a decrease of £127,162 as compared with the corresponding period in the previous year. The combined yield from motor spirit and tyre duties showed the small decline of £5807 on the figure for the 1938-39 financial year but sales tax for the current period was higher by £20,325. The collections in January with the corresponding figures for 1939 are as

lows: — 1939 1940 £ s d ' £ s d Customs 18,965 16 2 14,586 15 1 Beer 165 10 9 76 10 3 Sales tax 4,137 13 1 4,680 10 3 Petrol 10,603 6 0 8,675 3 0 TOTALS 33,872 6 0 24,018 18 5

Customs duty 58,839 57,583 Beer duty 46,493 32,662 Sales tax 31,853 29,557 Petrol tax 21,326 16,606 Gold duty 1,757 1,983 Tyre tax 537 1,172 TOTALS 174,100 142,119

the figures for last year are: 1939-40 £ 1938-39 £ Customs 1,002,069 963,383 Beer 114,961 143,212 Petrol 257,596 273,562 Tyres 11,747 7,976 Sales tax 384,988 414,555 Light dues 6,148 5,347 Export levies: Wool 2,012 2,446 Meat 9,668 10,545 Honey 41 1 Miscellaneous 2,507 30,867 TOTALS 1,791,737 1,851,894 MONTH OF JANUARY Customs 1939 £ 96,873 1940 £ 100,010 Beer 10,464 19,587 Petrol 24,931 37,031 Tyres 1,876 909 Sales tax 46,545 43,092 Light dues 942 571 Export levies: Wool 510 712 Meat 1,107 0 Miscellaneous 1,756 8,639 TOTALS 185,004 211,361

follows: £ £ 1940 1939 Customs 305,240 297,446 Motor spirit 87,666 - 78,894 Tyre duty 1,898 3,792 Excise on beer 27,456 13,509 Sales tax 98,825 99,296