THE ESTIMATES

Grey River Argus, 4 June 1943, Page 5

THE ESTIMATES

Consolidated Fund WELLINGTON. June 3. In his financial statement, Mr. Nash gives the following summary of the Consolidated Fund estimates for 194344:- . ' , REVENUE. Taxation: Customs, £6,600,000; beer duty, £1,800,000; sales tax, £3,500,000; highways. £1,600,000; Stamp duties, £1 700,000; land tax. £1,000,000; income tax £19,100,000; miscellaneous, £2&J,000; interest recoveries from trading activities , etc., £4,100,000; other receipts, £2,000,000 —total, £4l',600,000. EXPENDITURE. Permanent appropriations (with transfer of £1,500,000 to War Expenses Account), £19,666 000; annual votes £21,554,000; supplementary estimates and contingencies, £380,000 —total £41,600,000. The expenditure provided for in tne estimates shows a net increase of

£3,014,000 as compared with the actual expenditure- for last year. increased debt charges alone account for £2,500,000 of this increase, practically all of which is in respect of war, and which is in fact a war cost which is being met from the ordinary revenues of the State.

Other increases are £113,000 for education, £300,000 in the amount to be transferred to the Social Security Fund, and £1,108,000 for war pensions, these increases being offset to some extent by decreases in other items. In the Consolidated Fund the past year’s activities resulted in a Budget surplus of £4,200,000. This satisfactory surplus arose from increases in revenues of which income tax provided £2,600,000 and interest receipts, mostly from railways, £900,000. Thus, apart from income-tax, which is always a difficult heading to estimate before the receipt of returns from taxpayters, the results for the year adhered very closely to the Budget estimates. The Consolidated Fund surplus wil], as on similar occasions previously, be transferred to the War Expenes Account, where it will be applied towards meeting the current year’s expenditure, thereby l ; reducing borrowing.