WAR TAXES

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 259, 29 July 1919, Page 6

WAR TAXES

WHERE THEY CAME FROM

LEVIES ON INCOME

DEPARTMENTAL FIGURES

"In view ol' the fact that the war is now over, the whole question ot the incidence ui'taxatiun in naturally one oi' much interest to- the people of i\ew Zealand," said tho.Uuii. Aitliur 11. Myers, Acting-Minister of finance, to a Press representative yesterday, "and I leel sure that the return whicli the Commissioner of Taxes has compiled in this connection and which I am now publishing for the information of the puolic, will bs welcomed. The return given below," continued Mr. Myers, "shows tiie different sources from which the culinary' and special war-income tax were derived for tne financial year 1917-18, the number of taxpayers nnaer tiie various heads, also the individual and aggregate- amounts of the incomes on which they were assessed, together with tiie taxable balance and tax assessed." Who Paid the Taxes? The return shows the classes of income tax payeis, the amount ot their incomes and the taxes paid by them. Following are particulars extracted from the return, first in order bjing the number of taxpayers in tiie class, next the amount of ordinary income tax paid, ami next the amount of special war tax paid:— Companies: 11)45, ,£1,2-15,007, .61,86:!, IS:!. Landowners: 12,548, «£52f,001, =1:951,713. Traders and Manufacturers: 7637, •£200,323, .£295,053. , Salaried Persons; 8070, ,£16,198, .£69,806. Professional: 2537, i.'56,973, <£77,007. Deceased Persons' Estates and Other Trusts: 2211, .£71),110, .£130,503. Miscellaneous (Income lroui Investments, etc.): 2721, «£64,745, ,£103,91)5. Non-resident Traders: 215, .£l-1,167, ,£15,274. Theatrical and .Other Travelling Companies: 35, X 123, JE32. A Summary. The payers of income tax under all heading? are classified according to amount of income as follow :— Not. exceeding XlioO 20,321 Ex. „CBSO but not ex. i!7io 2.203 Ex. .£750 but not ex. ,£BSO 1,595 Kx. ,1850 but not ex. ,£9OO 708 Ex. .£9OO but not ex. =£1(100 930 Ex. illoo3 but not ox. iIJM 2,008 Ex. JiloOO but not ex. X2OOO l,!oi> E.v £23'.!0 but nut ex. «K)000 1,004 Ex. .£3OOO but not ex. .C-1-000 ...... 435 Ex. ,£4OOO but'not ex. ,£7OOO 469 Ex. .£7OOO but not ex. <£10,009 185 Exceeding .1:10,000 290 Total .'.... 37,949 The incomes earned and the taxes paid by these classes were as follow:— War

Totals .£30,645,373 .£2,235,772 JC3,50C,508 (Shillings and pence omitted.) •

Interesting Comparisons,

The Minister points out that this is tlie first your a return giving such full particulars in this connection lias been compiled by the Department, and that it is intended to make up similar statements for succeeding financial years, which will prove useful for pui poses of comparison. "This being the first return of its kind, it is not possible to compare it'in full with figures relating to previous financial years," continued Mr. Myers, "but I have looked up two returns relating to recent financial years (i.e., 10L0-11 and IDU-J5 respectively), which have" been compiled by the Depart ment in response to orders of the Ilouso of Representatives. and these 1 think may be used with value for purposes of comparison in certain particulars with the more rccont figures. "It will be observed that in tho return for 11)1748 figures are given under a heading T.aimmviior.v' ;uul these, r; may bo pointed out, relate to the income derived from farming and the rent of land. This class of income has not liecn assessed for income tax piior to the year ended March 31, 1910, as the Act authorising its coileption was passed only in 1015. Therefore, for tho comparison with the previous returns > men- i tiondJ above to be of value, it will bo necessary to exclude the figures under this heading from the total quoted in connection witli the financial year 1917-. 18.' It must also be remembered that a certain number of taxpayers under this head are already included under one or other of the remaining headings. Return Showing Number of 'taxpayers for Financial Years 1910-11, 1914-15, and 1017-18. Number of taxpayers who

The reason why the commencing figure relating to the income earned in the above return is not lower than .£!XH) is because the 1010-11 and 1911-15 returns show different amounts of intakes below .£9OO to those quoted in the 1917-18 return; hence it has been necessary to total these figures 1 and show them as above. The large increase in Ihe number of taxpayers for .1917-18 is due in a large jncasiue, as will readily be 'surmised, to the increased salaries received and profits on trading made on account of war conditions prevailing during the period under review. The following return shows the various sources of income fa* for tlle financial years 1911-1915 and 1917-1918: — Salaried Persons.'

It will be noticed that (he figures given for 1917-1018 for comparison purposes relate only tn the ordinary income! tax collected (luring that year, in addition to which thero is the special war tax mentioned in the large return. The reason for tin; large increase of the figures for 1017-1918 over those for 19141915 in the income tax derived from companies is due mainly to the increased profits and increased rates charged and to a lesser extent to the dotal ion of private businesses into companies. It will be noticed also that a very substantial increase, is shown under the heading "Various." This is dye to a large extent to the inclusion ni the figures for 1017-1018 under this head of the figures under the liei'.ding "Landowners" referred to previously.

" Income. Old. Tux, Tax. £ £ £ No. 1 10,305,6!X) 67,130 112,314 Nd. 2 1,017,071' '23,598 32,785 No. 3 1,273,78!) 2(5,767 31,9% No. 4 i 623,8*2 15,149 17,601 No. 5 S92.6G1 25,750 27,73? No. 0 3,195,193 102,816 131,383 No. 7 1,925,789 77,293 111,122 No. 8 2,398,109 121,056 18S.605 No. 9 1,491,972 97,809 161,763 No. 10 2,125,283 232,110 397,912 No. 11 1,551,722 181,133 315,110 No. 12 9,013,347 1,261,106 1,974,751

pay income tiix on amounts. 1910-11. 1914-15. 1917-18. Under £900 9,305 11,351 21,250 £900 to 4:1000 .... 288 372 581 ,£1000 to ,£1500 717 701 1,530 £1500 to £2900 ... -87 573 (132 J2.T00.to £3000 ... 246 .463 573 £3000 ,'to £4000 ... 105 147 23G £4000 to £7000 ... 134 1G8 285 £701)0 to £10,000 53 52 93 Over £10,000 108 137 2U> Totals 11,303 13,967 25,401

Tax charged. No. £ s. (1. 1917-18 8,07(1 16.19S 11 1 1911-15 -1,033 2WS76 12 0 Increase 1,037 21,521 19 1 Traders and .Manufacturers. 1917-18 7,637 200,323 i 1 1911-15 5,368 100.728 18 10 Increase 2,269 93,591 5 3 Companies. 1917-18 1,915 1,245,01)7 13 6 1911-15 i;590 351,250 18 6 Increase 355 SUO.SIG 15 0 Professional. 1917-18 2,537 56,975 0 10 1911-15 1,705 32,331 12 7 Increase S32 21,6-10 S 3 Various. . 1917-18 17,760 687,208 fi 1 1911-15 1,271 20,852 8 2 Increase 16,-189 6116,355 17 11