Comment On Disappointing Budget

Chronicle (Levin), 23 August 1947, Page 5

Comment On Disappointing Budget

Press Association)

(Per

- ■ WELLINGTON, August 22. ''The Budget. wilT be received with sreat disappointment by all sections of the cbmmunity because of its abject failure to give taxation relief," said Mr. H: S'kell Anderson, president of the Associated Chambers of- Commerce- today. "The people will not permanently sujrender to the peacetime mainten fince of wartime taxes and eyerybody was looking confidently- to this year 's financial statejrmnt to alford r.elief . the pressure. The Qne tax conc.ession which is given— on the lowest rungs' of the so-called unearned ineome, benelit ing a few thousand people — -is eontemputuous beyond condemnatioa. io it as an implied token of reeognition at long last by the Government of the . eomplete unfairness of tax discrimination against the so-called unearned income (in reality income hard earned

by the thritty), the obyious nanonai case for taxation relief has been spurned. . „ "For the seGond year in succession the Government is. coolly raising and asing approximately £31,000,010 in "war taxes, not for use on war purposes at all but on civilian and peacetime extravagances an.d in expanding ' the already heavily inflated public service and Government departnients. "Last year the Government spent an extra £5,000,000 on expanding Goverpment departments and now Mr. Nash proposes to step up this expenditure by another £1,000,000. This is withholding from the people with a vengeance their own money to spend in their own way. "Most amazing of all is the position with regard to subsidies. The Court of Arbitration was recently virtually invited by the Minister to increase \yage rates because he intended to ahqlish certain subsidies. Now the Budget makes no provision for the abolition of those subsidies at any given date so that if they are abQlishe& the Minister will have a surplus on the year's operations of the amount of the subsidies, naipely £13,530,000, If thesc subsidies were abolished immediately then, in view of the fact that five

months of the current financial yeai have already elapsed, the Minister would have a Budget surplus oi £7,750,000 from unspent subsidies up to March 31 next. At the same time the people are being required to carry taxes to provide subsidies which are not to bt spent. "New Zealand is at the present moment urgently considoring whai, stringent national measures it can take to aid the Uiiited Ivingdom in her crisis. The Budget iimps behind the urgencies of the situation. The Minisler l of Finance talks in his Budget of in eentive and the need to find ways and means quickly of galvanisiug our people into greater activity so as to increase the outpm and ma-intain tiie standard of living. He has that in his own hands. He could have produced an incentive Budget to ensure it but his Budget offers no encouragement tc effort and to rcward that should go with it. " In view of the money which it hai. at its • command, we urge that tln Government reconsider the whole of itt financial proposals for the current yeai and bring down a supplementary an-, amending Budget based on eeonomy and incentive which will deai with rea. issues in a real way b.y providing toi substantial reductions in taxatiou whicli the Government is fully capablc of making."