MOTOR TAXATION

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 20, 19 October 1943, Page 6

MOTOR TAXATION

Stand Against Diversion Advocated A stand would have to be made sooner or later againsit the diversion of motor taxation for other purposes, said the council chairman, Mr. E. A. Batt, at the'annual meeting last night of the Automobile Association (Wellington). Since 1931. there had been a considerable diversion of motoring taxation from its legitimate channel—the Main Highways Board for road construction and maintenance —into the Consolidated Fund for the relief of the general taxpayers. This meant that motorists were not only general taxpayers but were selected as special taxpayers. The matter was non-poil-tical, having been practised by successive Governments. The policy adopted was one where the chickens would come home to roost. Because of war traffic the roads had been smashed and thrashed and would require reconstruction. Where, then, would the money come from? There would be none in the till to do the work, it having gone into the Consolidated Fund and been used for other purposes. Two ways of financing this work were possible. The first was by loan, to which motorists must strongly object, as the standing charges on . original loans were considerable —£500,000 a year, The second was progressive reconstruction over a long period, with the probability of the roads being further damaged while the work was proceeding. In the past 19 years £52,000,000 had been paid in motor taxation, an average of £2,750,000 a year. Over the same period the average of registrations was 229,000. It must be admitted that after 'the initial work on highway construction less money should be needed. Instead of a reduction, the prospect was of an increase. If there was going to be a further burden on motorists for reconstruction work then, in view of the use to which motor taxation had been diverted, there should be a showdown. The fourpence extra tax a gallon of petrol imposed just before the war had realized more than £4,000,1X10 in four years, or an additional £1,000,000 a year taxation on motorists.