BURDEN OF TAX

Taranaki Daily News, 10 February 1933, Page 7

BURDEN OF TAX

EXCESSIVE RESTRAINTS RELIEF OF BUSINESS IGNORED COMMERCIAL VIEW POIN T ‘"CUT SOCIAL SERVICES” STATE TRADING ANOMALY By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night Mr. A. S. Burgess, president of the Associated Chambers of Commerce, in a statement to-day said: “We were warned that the sales tax was coming and therefore we are not surprised, but the taxation proposals of the Government are a bitter pill without any sugar coating. “The Chambers of Commerce have expressed strong opposition to the sales tax and their aversion has been by no means moderated by knowledge of the fact that the raising of the exchange rate has thrown an extraordinarily heavy burden on the Budget. The major part of this burden is now being transferred to the commercial and taxpaying community generally and already the taxation requirements of the Government have grown beyond what it was stated recently would be required. "The office routine of business houses was thrown into confusion throughout New Zealand to-day and this is the sort of dislocation following the exchange rate increase that is dangerously retarding business recovery.. ; . “The sales tax system is most objectionable,” said Mr. Burgess. “It is an overnight impost and the only thing that can be done now is to ensure that it is adjusted to commercial practices with as little disruption as possible. “Although a great deal of expense and inconvenience is unavoidable in this connection the Minister of Finance has promised to consult with the mercantile and manufacturing communities when the Bill is introduced. That is a reasonable attitude which the commercial community will welcome as readily as it has sought co-operation in the past.DISASTROUS COURSE. . . . vf-J'T- 'W ? “The course that is being followed in national finance, however, is disastrous. The question i§ not what extra burden business {can stand .in* Order, to support this sort of financial policy but what sfeps the Government can take to relieve trade, industry and commerce from restraints and burdens already excessive. That aspect has been completely disregarded. The sales tax has only one virtue—and that is that rate of the tax can be easily reduced. “It is more than ever the bounden duty of the Government to go back to the report of the National Expenditure Commission and effect every possible economy and reorganisation in State expenditure, chief among which is the elimination of many social services that the country can no longer afford. Just as quickly as these imperative adjustments are made so will taxation generally be reduced. If these taxes do not come down, the country will know what to think on the subject of taxes.' > “There are some, however, that we invite the Government to impose,” continued Mr. Burgess. “Now, if ever, is the time when all State and municipal trading concerns should be subjected to the same taxes, rates and charges as are required of their private competitors. This will give a rich yield of revenue as well as remedy a long-standing injustice to private traders. For that matter it will also bring home to the people a realisation of where taxes fail. It is an enigma why this source of revenue has been neglected for so long in the face of reports of the royal commission, the example of England and the repeated representations that have been made, unless it be from sheer expediency. These measures are essential if we are to achieve equity and get out of the wood.”