Waihi Telegraph WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE WAIHI MINER TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1929. LAND TAX CRITICISM

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume XXVI, Issue 7912, 8 October 1929, Page 2

Waihi Telegraph WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE WAIHI MINER

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1929. LAND TAX CRITICISM

Hero al.ull too I’rean tr.e Coopiß a rtight maintain Hnawod bf influence and unbribed by gain Here Pctriot Truth bar glorious precept* draw. Pledaed to Religion Libert* and Law

The heat of the attacks made upon the land taxation proposals has possibly created a wrong sense of proportion in the country. The supertax and the reduction of the mortgage exemption have been presented as an unwarranted impost upon rural industry. It is only necessary to refer to earlier scales of taxation to discover how exaggerated is this view. In 1914 the land tax yielded £767,451, or 12.97 per cent, of the total tax yield. In the same year income tax was £554,271, or 9.37 per cent, of the total. In 19 28 land tax amounted to £1,154,479, or 6.73 percent. of the total, and income tax to £3,273,729, or 19.10 per cent. How can the criticism of Reform member’s be maintained in the face of such facts? , Moreover, the whole of the land tax does not fall on rural industry. Over 4 0 per cent, of it is paid by the towns. Yet when the Minister of Finance, in an endeavour to meet a revenue necessity, proposes to institute a fairer division of the burdens, he is charged with saddling the primary producers with an intolerable load. Obviously the only reform that would satisfy some of these critics \vottld be the complete remora} gf Igpfi Another objection raised to the proposals is that they are unscientific. can admit that they fall short of perfection,.but they are not nearly so unscientific and unjust as the company tax, which makes the small investor subject to a tax rate altogether out of proportion to his ability to pay. Classification of rural lajuls, it is urged, sjionld precede papal .taxation which is sq drastic ,a$ tg r e( l u ire a hardship clftpgp. Rut jf classification is necessary as a first step towards sub-division, why if is tjiat it has not yet beep undertaken? The weight of this objection is lessened when the plea is advanced by members of a former Government which had many opportunities for such classification. The unprejudiced elector must be convinced that the classification argument is put forward more as an excuse for delay than as a means of bringing a more equitable sub-division' policy into operation. This opinion is strengthened when one considers the reception given to a generously drafted

har,thjhip clause. "How unjust the fax n ipst be,” say the critics, “when Sjjclj a pJaMse Is necessary?’'’ They forget that .other taxing measures havp hardship provisions, and that this particular clause was inserted to meet the objections of opponents who said that the general operation of the tax legislation would involve injustice. Again one comes back to the conclusion that what is (jesired is not the removal of ipj,ustico, but the withdrawal .of the Wh,o/,e Jj.MJ,