The New Taxes.

Feilding Star, Volume XVII, Issue 261, 9 May 1896, Page 2

The New Taxes.

(Per Press Association.) Napier, May 8. Mr McGowan, Tax Commissioner, was present at a largely attended meeting of the Chamber of Commerce to day when he explained at length the object of. the new taxes on consignment of goods and commercial travellers from outside of the colony in brief. His explanation was that both taxes were primarily designed to protect New Zealand traders from unfair outside competition. At present the consignee of consigned goods no doubt paid tax on his commission but there was another profit that of consignors, which the new tax was designed to catch. The importer here paid on both profits. The profit had been fixed at Ik per cent, because after examination in any ad valorem invoices that was found to be a fair average, many consignees showed losses on consignments, but investigation showed those losses were on the goods taxed by weight or measure, and that in nearly all instances invoice prices were about double (?) the true prices, as shown by European and American prices current. If the true values were shown there would be a profit. Where bona fide loss was shown no tax would be levied. The commercial travellers' tax was imposed because it was found difficult to assess the profits on orders they took, while to let those goods in free of tax on profits handicapped New Zealand merchants. In the course of his remarks he stated that an agitation against the consignment tax was got up by two firms, one doing business in Auckland and the other in Wellington, Christchurch, and Oamaru. To his knowledge one firm was using correspondence with the Department as an advertisement for itself to show how they looked after the interests of consignors in the hope of getting a monopoly of the consignment business of the colony.