FARMERS’ TAXATION

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 78, 6 August 1948, Page 4

FARMERS’ TAXATION

Sir, —I chanced to read in a city newspaper this week that the directors of the Cambridge Dairy Factory were seeking . exemption from income tax for farmers. I have heard many farmers groan at the amount of taxation they have to pay, but I, as a farmer, feel that i£» I am making more than sufficient for my family’s, my own and my farm’s needs, then it is no hardship to be taxed on what we do not really need. As for the “backbone of the country” idea which so many farmers have, I agree, but I also know that a farmer is a businessman •on his own and sometimes not too small. Often he is making a lot of money off his farm with the high prices of produce today. Admitted, prices of consumer goods are also high, but he can always afford to get most of the things he needs. The Cambridge request seems to me the same as if a manufacturer were to go to the Government and ask for tax exemption on account of his making some necessary article. It is impracticable and unfair. The farmer has never been better off than he is today. He lives better, and has more comforts than he had under the old uncontrolled price system. He should be grateful for what he has and for what he can do on money he gets today instead of trying to grab extra privileges at the expense of others worse off than himself.

Yours etc., SATISFIED FARMER.