TAXATION BURDEN

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 82, 4 October 1938, Page 6

TAXATION BURDEN

EFFECT ON WORKERS

A claim that the low-paid workers are worse off today than in 1935—due to the Labour Government's taxation policy—was advanced by Mr. D. P. Howlett, National candidate; for • Wellington South, at Berhampore. last evening. "The Prime Minister : and other Ministers of the Crown," he said, "have recently stated publicly that taxation has not been increased by the Socialist Government—they say it is the general increase in income that has been responsible for the greatly increased amount collected in taxation.

- "This is not only incorrect, but is evidently an attempt deliberately to mislead the electors—if they are simple enough to be misled by such a gross misstatement."

In 1935, Mr. Howlett added, before the advent of the Socialist Government, the basic rate' of income tax was 7d plus 30 per cent., or 9 l-5d in the £ up to £300 taxable income, but this was raised by Mr. Savage and his friends to Is 8d for the first ■£, increased by l-100th part of a penny for every additional £, so that the first £300 now pays Is lid in the £ instead of 9 l-5d in 1935.

"Take a man with a wife and one child on £310 income in 1935; he paid nil, and that is the same today. On £360 income he paid £2 10s in 1935 and now he pays £4 5s sd, nearly 100 per cent, increase. On £410 he paid £4 19s 4d in 1935 and now he paid £8 155." ,

The Government had disallowed the deduction of wage-tax from income tax payments, with the result that the lowwage man was "getting it in the neck."

Mr. Savage and Mr.- Nash had expounded the philosophy that "it's not what you pay but what you have left," but they forgot to ask what one could do with what was left. With the greatly increased cost of living it was impossible to make what was left go as far as it did in 1935, and consequently there were thousands of low wage-earners in New Zealand today who were much worse off since this Socialist Government had been pursuing its policy of squandermania.