The Timaru Herald. TUESDAY, JANUARY 7, 1879.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 1341, 7 January 1879, Page 2

The Timaru Herald. TUESDAY, JANUARY 7, 1879.

The imposition of the Land Tax has , not hitherto caused much excitement, or even attracted any attention to speak of, for the simple reason that, as it did not come into force before the first of January, the people remained in a state of blissful ignorance concerning it. Up to within the last few days, indeed, we believe that that large section of the public who "do not read the papers," absolutely did not know that any Land Tax had been imposed, or that their in. come had been reduced by a halfpenny in the pound on the value of their land without improvements, over and above the value of five hundred pounds. Very general attention, however, has now' been drawn to this new impost, by the visits of the valuers for the purpose of making inquiries from owners and occupiers of property. This is a proceeding which they are lawfully empowered to take under the twenty-first and twenty-second clauses of the Land Tax Act, 1878. These clauses run as follows : — Any valuer may enter at any time during the day upon land or premises, for the purpose of rating tho same, and may put to the occupier or ownor thereof any questions he thinks fit, touching any of the particulars he is required to furnish in the valuation list. If any person obstructs a valuer in the performance of his duty herein, or refuses, or wilfully neglects to answer any such question, or gives any false or evasive answer, he shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding fifty pounds. The manner in which the valuers are to put the questions referred to, is not specified particularly in the Act, but the seventeenth clause gives the Governor power to make regulations in that respect, and any breach of those regulations i3 also punishable by a fine not exceeding fifty pounds. We would, therefore, advise everybody to be remarkably civil to the valuers when they come round, and to answer their questions,

and do whatever they require, -without making any fuss about it. Direct taxation is a grand and beneficent institution, through the medium of which the down-trodden people of this country are to obtain all the blessings of freedom, and all tbe rest of it ; and they must not mind if it puts them to any amount of annoyance in the process. The valuers have begun their inquiries by leaving at every house a form, duly prescribed by Regulations which very few people have ever heard of, and this form is to be filled up in the course of forty-eight hours after its receipt, under a penalty, we need hardly say, not exceeding fifty pounds. We earnestly trust that the public will not give way to useless irritation at this somewhat pressing way of asking questions, or at being fined fifty pounds occasionally if they prefer that to answering them. What is fifty pounds compared to'the blessings of freedom or to the glorious feeling that "the owners of vast estates " are for the first time being compelled to. bear their fair share of the burdens of the country ? A mere bagatelle, of course. The forms, too, which have just been distributed, ai'e so charmingly clear and simple, that anybody, almost, can fill them up, who is a pretty good lawyer, and has a copy of the Land Tax Act by him, and has the run of the Survey Office, and possesses a strict record of the condition of his property ever since it passed out of the hands of the Crown, in its natural state. The form is headed " New Zealand." It is all plain sailing so far. Then comes " The Land Tax Act, 1878 (Sections 21 and 22). Returns in accordance with the above by Owner or occupier district." The owner or occupier will no doubt here turn to his copy of the Land Tax Act, or if he should happen by any singular accident not to have one, he will perhaps buy, beg, borrow or steal one. He will then find that " the above," says nothing about such a return as this ; and, if he is not acquainted >vith the Regulations which have been gazetted, he must make the best he can of the return without further enlightenment from the law. The word " District " is a little puzzling, certainly. Here again, though ,the Regulations come in handy.f or the " Districts" under the Land Tax Act are defined by them. They are nearly the same as Provincial districts, though not quite. Then come a number of particulars, County, Road District, Township and Borough, which ought not to offer any difficulty to speak of. After them, though, there are rocks ahead. The " owner " or " occupier," or both, is called upon to state his surname, Christian name, trade or occupation, address and nature of interest, and is told to " see Land Tax Act, 1878, sections 5, 6, and 7." Now these sections define who are to be deemed owners, and what land is to be exempt from land tax, and are delightfully lucid and intelligible. The first of them has ten subsections, the first nine of which describe as many different kinds of owners of land, while the tenth mentions as an owner " every person entitled to any land liable to duty under this Act partly in one and partly in another or others of the foregoing ways." We strongly recommend everybody to be careful to satisfy himself as to whether or not he really is entitled to any land partly in one and partly in another or others of the foregoing ways ; because that is a matter of considerable importance. For instance, if he is entitled to any land partly as a tenant of land vested in trustees, or in any corporate body, or in any persons for or on behalf of any college, high school, or other teaching body, established for the purposes of higher education (see subsection 6); and partly as a settlor, grantor, assignor, or tranf error, of any land comprised in any settlement, grant assignment, transfer, or conveyance, not made bona fide or for valuable consideration (see subsection 8) ; he must say so honestly, without any evasion or nonsense. If he is an " aboriginal native only," he is a very lucky fellow, because in that case he is wholly exempted under the sixth clause, and may snap his fingers at the valuer, or light his pipe with the returns, or write " nil " across it, or do whatever he likes with it. If, on the other hand, he is the tenant or occupant of land belonging to a Maori, but has the misfortune not to be a Maori himself, he must mention the fact under the heading " Nature of Interest," because in that case he is the owner of the land for the purposes of the Act. The 7th section referred to in the return has eight subsections, defining exemptions, but these are not likely to interest the owners or occupiers of land much, unless they live in cemeteries, museums, hospitals, or other equally undesirable places of abode. After this explanation, we hope that owners and occupiers will have no difficulty in filling up the return, so far as these little matters are concerned at all events. The next item offers, perhaps, some slight difficulty. The owner or occupier is required to set down the locality and area of his landed estate, held under freehold, leasehold, or license, and further, to " state the variety and quality of lands opposite each." What "the variety and quality of lands" means, or what possible object is sought by asking such a question, we confess we do not know. We think there is a wide field opened by this inquiry, for the exercise of taste or fancy, and we have no doubt it will be freely indulged. The next particulars required to be stated are the survey district, square on plan of district, allotment, block or hundred, section, township, (for the second time in the return) or street, where the landed estate is situated. As everybody's deeds are in perfect order and ready to hand, or as the nearest lawyer or land agent can find out all these things, more or less accurately, for a few pounds, there need not, of course, be any trouble about filling in these particulars. Fortyeight hours, though, is certainly rather a short space of time to ascertain the required information in. The next item i is the capital value of the landed estate, j :

We presume this does not mean what i the owner would consider a capital price ' for it if he sold it, but rather the price '' that he would be prepared to give for it if he were going to buy it. There will ! no doubt be some queer answers given under this heading, and we cannot give any guidance concerning it, except that the value is intended to include the i value of all improvements of every kind. ■ This is manifest from the fact that the list of " exemptions for improvements " follows in a separate column, so that the total may be deducted from the capital value, in order to arrive at the net value, which is the last item in the return. This question of improvements is the most difficult of all. because every owner is entitled to claim exemption, i not only for improvements which he has made himself, but for those which any previous owner may have made upon the land. We observe that planting is allowed as an improvement, but the clearing of timber is not mentioned. Tet the clearing of timber, or other growth, in many parts' of the country, is really the chief or only improvement, and has cost the owner perhaps ten times the prime cost of the land. There are many other kinds of improvements, too, the cost of which will go far in many cases to swell the capital value of the landed estate, and for which the owner is properly entitled, by the spirit of the Act at all events, to claim exemption from taxation ; but which, nevertheless, are not enumerated in this return. Whether the owner may mention these under the head of "remarks," or whether the valuers will take any notice of them if they do so, we do not know. We presume that they will f orm the subject of " objections," which will be heard and determined as provided by Regulations. We congratulate the public on thenfirst introduction to the Land Tax, which the liberal Government have imposed upon them, and we hope they will have had enough of it before they have done with it.