TAXING BILLS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXV, Issue 19008, 16 October 1931, Page 12

TAXING BILLS.

PASSED BY HOUSE. 1 By Telegraph—Pres* Aaaoslatlo fs s WELLINGTON, October 15. i The Land and Income Tax Amendment Bill, and the Land and Income - Tax Annual Bill, which were introduced i only the previous sitting day, were this s morning passed by the House of t Representatives after a debate lasting - from early yesterday afternoon until almost daybreak to-day. e Replying to the debate on the second ■, reading of the Income Tax Amendment ® Bill, the Hon. W. D. Stewart said piem--1 bers of the Government had received i telegrams from the Waihi Gold Mining s Company stating that great hardship s would be caused to the whole of the t Waihi district if the clause relating to » the assessment of gold mining and - scheelite mining companies were put into operation. He had agreed to hold ’• this clause over in the meantime, to - give the Company an opportunity of 1 making imemdiately representations to the Government on the subject. It E appeared to him that as the assessment 3 was to be based on dividends, it must ■ necessarily be fair. He had been urged • not to be bluffed by the Company, and ' he could assure, members that unless • he was convinced that the clause was • unfair, it would be included in the • Finance Bill to be introduced later in the session. He did not wish to delay l the passage of the present Bill, because • until it became operative the work of • the Taxation Department was being i held up. In Committee. When the House was in Committee on the Bill, Mr W. P. Endean urged that the Government should explore other avenues “before bleeding taxpayers white.” He suggested, as an alternative that it should tax the profits of municipal trading corporations and j gas companies. The Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes said the I difficulty in taxing municipal trading corporations would be that once a tax was imposed it would be found that j the profits would disappear, and would be substituted by reduced rates to consumers. Mr A. Harris protested against the Bill being put through all stages at such short notice. He said members should have been supplied with more detailed information as to the effect of the alterations in the incidence of taxation. Mr M. J. Savage moved an amendment to the clause providing for the extension of time for the payment of land tax or income tax, where an extension was rendered necessary by the Hawke’s Bay earthquake. His | amendment sought to grant this concession, and also in cases where it was rendered necessary on account of the economic conditions. It was defeated by 41 votes to 18. Mr W. E. Barnard suggested that the maximum period of extension should be Increased from two to three years. The Hon. W. D. Stewart agreed to this, and the clause was amended accordingly. When the House was in Committee on the Land and Income Tax Annual Bill, Mr Savage moved to retain the graduated land tax in operation. This was rejected by 33 to 26. The division list was: FOR THE AMENDMENT. For the Amendment (26). Armstrong Jull Atmore Langstone Barnard Lye Black McCombs Carr McDonald Dickie Munns Fraser W. Nash Harris O’Brien Hogan Parry H. Holland Savage L. E. Holland Sullivan Howard Wilkinson Jordan Wright Against the Amendment (33). Ansell Macmillan Bitchener Macpherson Broadfoot Makitenara Burnett J. N. Massey Campbell Murdoch Clinkard J. A. Nash Coates Ngata Cobbe Ransom Donald Rushworth Endean Samuel Field Smith Forbes Stewart Hawke Sykes Hamilton Waite Jones Williams Kyle Young Linklater Both bills were then reported to the House, read a third time, and passed. The House rose at 4.35 a.m. till 7.30 this evening.