WAR TAXATION

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2457, 10 May 1915, Page 7

WAR TAXATION

1 PROTEST FROM SPORTS LEAGUE. A circular letter from the chairman of the Sports Protection League (Mr. C. P. Skerrett) lias been _ issued to branches of the league, asking them to resist any spccial and distinctive taxa- [ tion on sports. k In the letter it is urged that all sports bodies have been ready in their response to the call of the Empire, sup- ' plying recruits wherever possible and 3 liberal donations where members are j over recruiting age. Supporters of p racing are drawn from those clubs and s the community in general. Most clubs t have subscribed liberally to patriotic I funds, and many have run their meetings wholly or partially for their benefit. The large section of the community re--5 presented by the league will yield to i none in willingness to bear a fair pro--1 portion of war taxation, but.the league 5 takes a stand on the ' great principle j that the war tax should be on citizens 3 of the State as far as possible propor--3 tionately to ability to pay, and there 5 should be no special tax on any class or _ any pastime. A tax on football, cricket, { tennis, and suoh clubs would] he unjust, t as they have lost a large proportion fc of members in volunteers for the front, s and have groat difficulty in keeping 1 their finances sound. The strength of 3 the attack will probably be directed i against racing clubs and the totalisator. i An increased taxation of the totalisator . receipts, apart, from its injustice, will conduoe to illicit betting with bookmakers with all its;attendant evils, and will undo all the efforts of those who clubs realised £29,645, and! for the racing. In 1909 the taxation on racing clubs realised £29,654, and for the racing year ended July, 1914, £107,813, a sum sufficient to pay the entire interest at 3i per cent, on the cost of the Dreadnought (£1,701,000) and to establish a sinking fund capable of defraying the total cost within twenty-four years. This' was in substance a war tax imposed upon a section of the community. The present taxation is now paid exclusively out _of winnings, and any further imposition upon dividends will certainly induce those who wish to bet to | deal with the bookmaker. "The clubs [ are managed entirely in the public interest by gentlemen who give their ser- ; vices without reward. Not a penny is . made which is not devoted either to in- ; crcased stakes or better accommodation ' for the public or the improvement of 1 I courses. _ During last year the amount ( of taxation payable by racing clubs in t Now Zealand amounted to 34 per cent, on the total amount allotted by them for stakes. Yet it is proposed to in- 1 crease the ratio of the tax. Such an ' is manifestly unjust. Let it 1 : bo clearly understood: it is in effect ' a proposal not to further tax but to ! ' strangle racing. If that iB the wist of ' the community wo have nothing to say; all who like the sport must submit; but i do not let the real issue be disguised, j For ourselves, we regard racing not ■ ( only as wholesome sport, but as one ' which has done good service to the com- ■ munity_. The_ high-bred stallions intro- ' duced into this Dominion have kept up 1 ( the horses of the country to a high j standard. They_ have not only affected ' horses engaged in racing, but have im- 1 proved the standard, character, and 1 stamina of many useful classes of ' horses." Without racing, how is tho J standard of the horses required for war, ' or the uses of the settler, to be kept up? The increased tax will certainly 1 tend to close horse-breeding establish- ! ments, none too profitable under exist- 1 ing conditions; and those who know ' anything of the subject recognise that ' no scheme of Government importation ! of stallions or subsidy for breeding will ' adequately supply their place. "We j arc convinced that strenuous efforts 1 should, ill tho true interests of tho 1 people, be made to oppose the increased j tax; and we ask your co-operation to ' frustrate this insidious effort to destroy c racing. We have never opposed, and 7 never will oppose, any legitimate proposal to control racing or to regulate j the totalisator demanded in tho publio j interest; but we shall opposo every attempt to abolish a legitimate sport, or 1 to impose on it an undue, spccial, and distinctive taxation." _ ]