CUSTOMS REVENUE

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 134, 3 December 1929, Page 12

CUSTOMS REVENUE

THE PEIMAGE DTJTjy

ESTIMATE MUST BE REA.USED

The Prime Minister (the I^jght Hon. Sir Joseph Ward) to-day referred to certain comments relative 0 tj 10 q us . Toms revenue for the pas t o ight months of the financial y«-xir with particular bearing on the in- creased primage duty. "It will be remembci _- et i >> said gir Joseph, "that in estira at i n ' g tho Budget for the current yot n . i pointed out that I had to ff xcc the necessity of obtaining a j eve nue return of £1,570,000 over and above the reve nue receipts o. the pre vious year aUfl an analysis of this ar aount was ' given b ™V" -7S USe last sossion showing that £07/,000 wa s required in the Rrs % place owing to W a 6 deficit in the ordin . ary revenue ace oU nt of the Consolidated Fund, &,3i )0 00 almost wholly for and £260,000 allowed for gupplenientf>; **tuna». M . 1 ah3o poillt Va out that these additional receipts could not be exp f ctcd in automatic increases from prese nt'taxes, and that in order to ensure, a balanced Budget I had to consider extra taxation aiul take nQ nsKs c I failing to secure the estimates or icy enue compiled by experts and pre sente' d to me. The Customs revenue last year, almost wholly in the last qua.'rter, failed to realise its estimate py £306,000, the main factor in brins- "*«_ about tho deficit. ''I notice it has been stated that w. itoms may be expected to yield tho o-i-tra £450,000 required by the Budf ;et without the assistance of the extra £300,000 estimated from additional primage duty. Complete figures to tho end of November are not available, but 3 tho Treasury returns for the seven . months to the end of October certainly do not .-juetify such a statement:. Apart i from the duty on tires and motor 3 spirits, which goes to Highways and 3 does 'f-t assist the general Budget Customs revenue for the seven months 7 amounted to £4,970,820 Sevcn--3 twelfths ,-• the estimate for the year . would amount to £4,^00,000, so that f the excess receipts, including the addi--5 £°" o aB9 O Primage' am°Mted to only

The position is that it is impossible to say with any degree of certainty what the Customs revenue is going to be during any month or period of months, and at this juncture it is very _ important that there should be no ns\ of failure to realise the year's estimate at the 31st March