The Wanganui Chronicle THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 1931. TAXATION

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 190, 13 August 1931, Page 6

The Wanganui Chronicle THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 1931. TAXATION

yHE major taxes imposed on the public of the Dominion have borne a fairly consistent relationship to each other during the last three years, the annual yield being as follows (at March 31st.): —

It is to be noticed that compared with 1929 despite the increased imposts Customs duties yielded £350.000 less, that Stamp duties yielded £188,385 less, and that the Beer duty has gone down by £36,384. The increased yield has taken place in In- , eome Tax, £692,729, and a slight increase in Land Tax of £5,293. Although the general construction of the tax yield has re- ; mained the same it must be remembered that the tax yield cannot be judged by looking at its internal constitution only. It i must be judged in relation to the national income and, what is I of almost equal importance, by the trend of prices within the | Dominion.

The Customs duties, under normal conditions, are borne by the consumers of the goods taxed. Normal conditions, however, preserve fairly steady markets; but during the period under review markets have been tumbling, with the result that merchants and traders have been compelled to sell at prices which yield less than ordinary trade margins. Where such conditions obtain it is the trader who pays the customs tax and he is left with that burden because the market will not permit him to recoup himself from the consumer. The trading community, therefore, has had a particularly onerous burden to carry. The income tax yield, which is the next in importance from the Treasury’s viewpoint, and has increased by nearly threequarters of a million must be viewed with the decline in the national income. The same tax yield on the lower national income means a higher burden. It must be borne in mind that the rates of wages did not go down before March 31, 1931, hence while the Customs duties were being heavily contributed to by the trading class, more heavily indeed than was intended, the wage-earners who remained in full employment were paying relatively less, while the income tax payers as a class were receiving less income and paying more in income taxation. Where the income tax payer was identified with the trading community his burden was particularly onerous, for he first paid his individual share of Customs taxations on the goods he consumed, he next bore the Customs taxes upon the goods he purchased but sold at cut rates; and then, of the income which remained, he paid a larger portion to the income tax collector.

The land tax yield was almost back to the 1929 level. Those paying land tax know that it is a fixed charge upon their property. The tax is of a stable character and that is its virtue. That the land tax is being sustained is a vindication of its continued existence. The tax is not as high as income tax in good years, but against that it does not decline in bad years when the

Treasury finds other sources of revenue falling. Of the increased tax burden which adversity has east upon the Dominion, it is the income tax payer who has shouldered the larger share and more particularly the trader paying income tax.

1929 1930 1931 Customs 7,954,252 8,897,046 7,605,976 Stamps & Death . 3,575,720 3,405,292 3,387,335 Income Tax .. . . 3,310,877 3,533,764 4,003,606 Land Tax 1,140,324 1,506,704 1,145,617 Beer Duty .. .. 611,484 620,312 575,100