A WARNING

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 33, 9 February 1933, Page 12

A WARNING

NATIONAL DISASTER

GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE

/ The president of the Wellington ..Chamber of Commerce, _r. J. Pearce iuke, made the following statement in -egard to the sudden imposition of the sales tax:-'- ' ! ~> "Business, people to-day, 'especially wholesale houses, were feverishly occupied in endeavouring to ascertain the effect _ upon their varying businesses .of the 'new sales tax. The fact .that 'the provisions of the tax have become operative immediately has come as a* shock. _ In Australia two days' riotice was given. Although firms in New Zealand have till the end of March to put' in the first return, the interpretation, of the exemptions will .j. cause much trouble and difficulty. V "Until the forms and detailed re*quirements»of the Government are business people can only deal with the .position as generally outlined in the statement submitted tb'Parliament by the Minister of Finance and pnblished in the newspapers. .The various trade associations are meeting in order to arrive at the practice to.. be . followed in incorporating the tax in invoices to the retailers, and no doubt many suggestions will be made which will exercise the mind of the" Minister of Finance before there is" clarity of nnderstanding as to what are the full requirements of the.tax. :-"Thia further addition to the obligations imposed on commercial houses by legislation is riot welcomed, and serves to emphasise the repercussive effects of governmental interference , in trade and commerce. j _"Once again it is necessaiy to reiterate* that'only by reduction in expenditure in all essential services, and the elimination of services which we cannot afford, can the demands on the Budget be reduced. The. eviljthat is with us. must be endured, but for that reason alone there is need for a clearer realisation that tho road we are travelling will lead to certain national disaster."'