AN ORIGINAL EXPLANATION.

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 2, 10 September 1927, Page 4

AN ORIGINAL EXPLANATION.

Though his explanations may not always be satisfying, the Prime Minister can usually be depended upon to proVide an original touch. For instance, when a member of the House complained that farmers were not called upon to pay income tax one would have expected the Prime Minister to have defended the policy of his Government by a staggering array of figures, statistics, 1 and economics, which would leave his critics in a maze of wonderment. But Mr Coates is not an ordinary overday Prime Minister, and with him the unexpected often happens. Therefore he contented himself by drawing attention to the intricacies of the income tax return forms and delicately suggesting the troubles which would come upon the primary producers if they had to sit down and try to unravel the * mysteries of the documents in question in order to show the tax collectors what their incomes were. Probably it was only lack of time which prevented Mr Coates painting a harrowing word picture of a farmer searching for Ins income 'with the aid of a microscope, an expert accountant, or oven a Sherlock Holmes. I'lio opinion of the Prime Minister regarding the forms in question seems to he at variance with that

of the taxation officials, who appear to i)G grossly insulted when any ordinary citizen suggests that the returns could he simplified. In Hie case of a farmer the matter could easily be overcome by requesting answers to 4 or 5 simple questions in the Income Tax return. However, in view of such a season as the past one, few people would lie inclined to support any kind of proposal that farmers should he called upon to pay any more taxes. As a matter of fact, many of them are in the position of not being able to meet their current account;'. Mr Coates, however-, did not, make an explanation on those lines, but took the line of least resistance, and, according to his reasoning, it is now open to all classes to state that the returns are too complictacd for them, and therefore they should be exempt from paying income tax.