“NO £3,000,000 DEFICIT”

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1043, 6 August 1930, Page 1

“NO £3,000,000 DEFICIT”

REVENUE UNDER-ESTIMATED REFORM MEMBER’S CLAIM IN HOUSE THE SUN'S Parliamentary Reporter PARLIAMENT BLDGS., Tuesday. A DENIAL that there was any deficit of £3,000,000 was made with emphasis in the House.this evening by Mr. U. Jones (Reform —Mid-Canterbury), during the Budget debate, speech. He criticised the Government’s attitude regarding under-estimation of revenue and its inadequate policy of cutting down expenditure.

“There is not a deficiencv of £3,000,000 wo are led to believe,” said Mr. Jones. “It would appear that tho Treasury got sp alarmed at the pace tho Government was making thoughtlessly, that it was forced to startle it, and did so by painting for Cabinet the gloomiest possible picture of the future, and which the Prime Minister handed on to the people. The alleged £3,000,000 deficit is purely an estimate of the future from the darkest possible standpoint.

“The Budget is one that protects the Government as’ far as this year’s revenue is concerned, but as far as the taxpayer is concerned and the Dominion in general, it is indeed a ‘Black Budget.* Apart from the scrapping of the territorial system the savings are not substantial. The additional burden of taxation will be more than £2,000,000, and in addition we have to add the £500,000 or £600.000 proposed in the Unemployment Bill. The only remission in taxation is the super-land-tax and the reason for this is apparent Out of 531 applications for exemption last year there were only 23 disallowed.

REVENUE UNDER-ESTIMATED “Balancing a Budget is a desirable object, but it should be balanced on sound and economic lines. It is very apparent that the revenue for the year has been very much under-estimated. Tho Customs taxation last year was under-estimated. Speaking on the Financial Statement I said that the estimated increase in the Customs revenue of £435,000 would be £1,000,000. It was actually over £951,000. This financial year in the first three months the imports are almost equal to last year. There will be a reduction later on, but the estimated fall of revenue is £1,150,000 in spite of the heavy increase in Customs duties.

“It is quite apparent that the revenue is again under-estimated, and I refuse to accept the statement that all these increases in taxation are essential. rtfhe stamp and death duty revenue is a striking illustration. The estimated increase this year is only £375,000. Last year there was a reduction of £266,911 in death duties. This could probably have been obtained easily from the Stamp Department if a larger surplus had been required, but if we assess death duties at the same amount as 1928-1929 the increase over last year would be only £107.699. The bank-note-tax and tho totalisator dividend

would thus give a surplus this year in this department of £107,000 over the estimate, and lh|e does not include the increase in stamps and the 10 per cent, stamp duty on instruments, the increase in the companies' annual license and land conveyances, the increased duty on transfers of land and mortgages, the transfer of shares, the Public Trust increases, 10 per cent, increase in death duties on all estates over £IOO,OOO, the increase in the gift duty, amusernents-tax, and brokers’ licences. Surely the Government must be in dire straits to find reasons for taxation under such misrepresentation.

“In its estimate of the land-tax the Government has apparently not taken into consideration ths increase of 5 per cent, on all land taxation and the increase that will also obtain by the alteration irj the assessment of city buildings.