The Taranaki Herald. DAILY EVENING SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1920. TAXATION OF LAND.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 16840, 11 September 1920, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald. DAILY EVENING SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1920. TAXATION OF LAND.

The present Government is described by its enemies as a Tory Ministry, but in the matter of taxation of tbe land Mr. Massey is showing' little tenderness for tbe largo owners. In tbe land-tax proposals now before the House the holders of big estates are penalised much more severely than in the past. The definite policy of the Government is to make it impossible for a man to hold laud above a certain value whether he uses it well or ill, because the presumption is that if anyone holds lapd to the value of £150,000 or £2015,000 he is probably not making the very best use of it. As soon as an estate reaches a value of £30,000 taxation begins to get more severe until, at the higher levels, it becomes so heavy that it is distinctly unprofitable to hold it. These facts are not mentioned by the popular orators who are constantly demanding a drastic increase in the land-tax. When a man holds Itmd in town or country valued at over £30,000 he gets a , gentle hint from his taxation paper that he has about enough. The sum of £30,000 is the value of a farm of 500 acres with au unimproved value of £6O an acre or 1000 acres with a value of £3O. No one can deny that at present prices for land farms of such size may be utilised to the utmost by capable farmers, but beyond that point the State is of opinion that subdivision would probably result in greater production. But in Iris new Bill Mr. Massey goes further than this and makes an attempt to penalise people who hold large areas of rather poor land without improving it. He places a super-tax of 50 per cent, on unimproved and improvable blocks, to compel the owners either to improve or to sell. Unimproved land is defined as “land on which at the beginning of the financial jiear there are not improvemerrts equal to one pound per acre or to one-third of thenuiimproved value, whichever shall be the less.” Land it is considered should be held for use and those who are not using it should pass it on to someone who will do so. This clause in the Bill is a new departure which may have a great effect in tho future. In order to give owners time to adapt themselves to the new conditions it is not to come into effect until 1923-24, but if it gets on the Statute Book, it will begin to produce .valuable pressure even ,be-i.

for© the tax is actually collected. It will hit not only those who hold large runs which are managed on the cheapest possible lines but also those who own areas of bush land where the bush Is allowed to stand untouched, or practically untouched, in the hope that the development of neighbouring properties will add to its value without the expenditure of capital. A man for example who holds 1000 acres of bush* land must therefore spend £IOOO, or one-third of the unimproved value of the land, in felling bush, grassing and fencing or pay an additional 50 per cent, in taxation. The new proposals will doubtless be carefully considered by the Lands Committee so as to avoid any injustice to- owners who are doing their best under difficulties, but the general principle will doubtless meet with the approval of a majority of the members of the House. To some, of course, it will seem to be altogether of too mild a nature but, except those extremists who regard a man who owns any land at all as a criminal who only escapes punishment owing to our inefficient laws, most people will consider it wise to introduce such legislation in a comparatively mild form, in order that its effect may be studied before making ,it more severe. The new proposal is an interesting one and certainly shows that Mr. Massey is ready to adopt now means of preventing land being held for the purpose of profit rather than use. The people of the country generally will rejoice to find that the Government is ready to move with the times and that the claim of Mr. Holland and his friends that they are the only party which lias any forward policy is not justified. The electors wish to see the land of the country put to the best use, but they are not anxious to plunge into the unknown under the guidance of extremists, and they will therefore welcome Sir., Massey’s new experiment and hope for its success.