PAY FOR NATIONAL RESERVE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 84, Issue 189, 13 August 1940, Page 4

PAY FOR NATIONAL RESERVE

NO EXEMPTION FROM TAX WANGANUI R.S.A. MAY MAKE A PROTEST Surprise was expressed when it became known in Wanganui that the National Military Reserve will have to pay social security and national security tax on the pay the members receive for doing their duty as reservists. Although the matter has not come before the Wanganui R.S.A., as yet, it is probable that the association will discuss it at the next executive meeting. The Auckland R.S.A. has made strong representations lo Dominion headquarters of the organisation to make a strong protest to the Government.

The taxes will amount to 2s in the £. ft. is stated that most of the men in the reserve are in the income-tax class, and that they will be required to pay income-tax at the rate of 2s 6d in the pound on their military pay, making total deductions of 4s 6d in the pound. National Reserve men, who are all volunteers, are paid at the rate of 7s a day, for a total of 40 days a year, their military earnings thus amounting to £l4. Deductions for incometax, and national and social security taxes will be £3 3s, or nearly onequarter, leaving a balance of £lO 17s as payment for night and week-end parades throughout the y;ear. Reservists are not the only ones affected, of course, as members of the Territorial Forces also have to pay the taxes. It is argued that the principle is just as wrong in their case as in regard to the reserve.

An important aspect of the matter, and one which has wider implications, affects the status of the troops. Territorial forces in training are part of the home defence of the Dominion. In the last war every man accepted for training was destined for service

overseas. In this war Territorials may have to enter battle within their own country. Because of that they have a status every bit as important as the men in camp awaiting transport to wherever the Empire wants them. The same applies to the National Military Reserve. None of them want war to come to this country, but their training is being taken in hand so as to be ready if the worst happens. Under these circumstances should monies subscribed for comforts for men in the fighting services be used for Territorials undergoing special training in camps? This aspect has a special significance for Wanganui, in that there is a military camp within the city. Should the men there be treated on the same plane as those in the Third Echelon, for instance, who are awaiting orders as to what front they are destined for? Many people will readily say “yes" to the question, because, in this war of movement. which is so widespread, the Territorial Force has a deeper significance than it ever had in the last war.