LAND AND INCOME TAX.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 232, 1 October 1928, Page 6

LAND AND INCOME TAX.

The discussion in the House last week on land and income taxation aired an important question, but left the matter where it was before. No adequate answer was given to the complaint of Mr. Savage that, whereas the townsman paid both land tax and income tax, the farmer paid only land tax. Our concern is not with the small farmer, but the well-to-do man who is now reaping a rich harvest from better times. The recent rise in wool has put great sums into the pockets of the squatters, but none of this has gone directly to the Treasury. On the other hand, the profits of a town company that makes up this wool into cloth or cloth into clothing are charged with income tax, and it also pays tax on its land. According to a letter from Mr. McCombs, M.P., which we published recently, half the total land tax revenue comes from city properties. When exemptions are considered, the weight of the State's land taxation does not press heavily on the farmer, and the fact that this class does not pay income tax means that the "big man" is paying less than his share of the cost of government.