British Finances.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 15868, 5 April 1917, Page 6

British Finances.

In Great Britain tho details of revenue and expenditure aro always made public very promptly on the close of the financial year, and the Budgofc for the ensuing year is usually introduced without very much delay. While wo are awaiting the Budget we may give some attention to tho brief particulars of tho revenue and expenditure which have been cabled to us. The Chancellor of the Exchequer (at that time Mr McKenna) estimated that the revenue from all sources would bo £■502,275,000,' and the expenditure £1,825,380,000. Actually the revenue was £573,500,000, and the expenditure £2,198,000,000. In his statement to tho House of Commons in December last Mr Bonar Law forecasted the large margin by which 'the expenditure -would exceed the estimate. The cost of the war had risen quite unexpectedly. The following figures will show how the revenue of the Kingdom has grown:— Revenue. Year. £ 1911-12 ... 185,000,000 1912-13 ... 188,802,000 • 1913-14 ... 198,243,000 191415 ... 270,332,000 1915-10 ... am,767,000 1916-17 ... 573,500,000 The revenue, that is to say, is very naarly three times as much. as it was before tho war. The war taxation in 1916-17 amounted to about £375,000,000 —the amount by which tho total revenuo exceeded tho revenue in the last pre-war .year. This works out at between £8 and £9 per head, and would be equivalent to over £9,000,000 in war taxation in New Zealand. Tho customs and exciso rovonue was estimated to yield £136,000,000, and although the actual yield is not stated in tho cable message, it would appear that this estimate has been reached, for tho amount by -nhich tho estimate of tho total revenue is exceeded is not all accounted for by tho excess over estimate of the income tax and "excess profits" tax. The British people have thus paid over £3 a head in customs and excise duties, or nearly as much as is paid in Now Zealand. There is this important difference, however, that the bulk of 'that reveuuo was obtained through the taxation of essential foods, and that, to put it briefly, the duty was paid by everybody. The customs and exciso duties in Britain press moro heavily on the average man than the customs and exciso duties here. We shall be better able to make a comparison between the two countries, so far as tho incidence of tho war taxation is concerned, when we receive tho details of the revenuo and expenditure from the Minister of Finance. Although the British people are paying out of revenue about one-fourth of the cost of tho war, it is widely felt that th£s is not a largo enough proportion, and that the British taxpayers, big and little, should ho asked to do more than they aro doing. In the coming session of our own Parliament the question of further taxation will have to be seriously faced, and wo hope the Government will by then bo in a mood to impose taxation that will be as fairly distributed over the whole community as it is in Britain.