"THE PROPERTY ASSESSMENT ACT, 1879." " THE PROPERTY TAX, ACT, 1879."

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 442, 19 April 1880, Page 2

"THE PROPERTY ASSESSMENT ACT, 1879." " THE PROPERTY TAX, ACT, 1879."

—. ♦ A bugbear which has been raised is that if a man makes a return of his assets and liabilities he will have his financial position known, and there will be a great risk of it being divulged. This is a danger which is almost imaginary. Each officer and clerk will be sworn to secrecy, and for a breach of his oath may be sentenced to not more than twelve months' imprisonment, with or without hard labor. If an officer does anything under the Act with-' out being first sworn he renders himself' liable to a fine of not less than £lO and not more than £IOO (clauses 8,9, and 10),, These checks ought to be enough to stay the tongue of the veriest gossip, and experience in other things proves that there is very little likelihood of. auyone wilfully divulging anything. The bank manager and the bank clerk, the solicitor and.the solicitor's clerk, possess all sorts of secrets as to-the ways and means of all sorts of people, yet whoever hears of tales of Mr Y.'s overdraft, Mr Q. 's bills discounted, Mr Z.'s dishonor of a draft drawn by a London firm, orMr A.'s attempts to raise money or get time. Merchants and traders never dream of these things becoming knowu. Then the telegraphists-well, what don't they know. Matters of the greatest privacy and urgency, thiu&s that would at once ruin a man if they were spoken of, are entrusted with absolute security to the knowledge of telegraph clerks and operators. Telegraphists are loyal and secret, and why should not officers of another department bo so. The fact is that making these returns is a new thing, and therefore imaginary dangers are set up. In. a short time property , owners will have as little uneasiness when Riding in their assessments, as people hamln^ England when filling up the Income Taxwers, Anotheretrorwhich has gained currency is that a person most specify his debts; but it is not he has to do is to state the gross amounToldebts for which he claims a deduction He can put this as much below the totiL of his indebtedness as he pleases, and this without breaking your declaration, which is to the effect that he actually owes the debts for. which hiclaims a deduction, fie need not say that the sum is the total of all his' liabilities, but he is bound to declare that' he gives all his property, which of course includes debts due to him. The remark that a man need not ■claim adduction for all his debts' unless pie likes, and thus elect to pay more tax thanVhe ought, may seem like a grim jest;' yet.it is not, for it it is well known that inEnglandmany people return their incomes, at amounts much larger than tliey aie, and they..do this with an idea of keeping up their credit in some way; although how that is effected ifc.is not easy tosee, for all returns are supposed to be secret. Possibly the trader who is going backwards may declare to'.a good income as the result of his busiuess, arid let it be known that he pays income tax on so many thousand pounds. A like reason may tempt some to increase their assets and. decrease their liabilities, and then make no secret of paying property tax on a handsome surplus. You need not claim a deduction for all debts, but you have either to return all your property or make a false declaration, In default you are liable to heavy penalties, of which more is set out under another head. A mode of getting rid of your assets for the purposes of assessment, without running a risk of loss, has been frequently suggested, but it is founded on such a ridiculous misconception that it really is difficult to believe that such a proposal could be seriously made. It is this :-If you have a rare collection, a valuable library, or works of art of great price, borrow on them to the full value, and include the amounts in your debts; : That was the royal road to cheat the revenue without risk, but the authors of this piece of finesse quite forgot that if you borrow £IOOO on anything and add the sum to your debts, you at the-same time increase your assets. You do something with the cash, and whether you bank it or hide it in- a cracked teapot, you must not omit it in your return. The result would be ir- " As you were." (To h continued.)