BANK CHARGES

Hokitika Guardian, 25 October 1933, Page 6

BANK CHARGES

FOR KEEPING CLIENTS’ BOOKS. STATEMENT OF POSITION. WELLINGTON, October 24. A stutement that the banks are prepared to revert to the former (charge of 10s per annum for keeping current accounts when the Government reduces vile note tax to the old rate of 5 per cent, is made by the chairman of the Associated Banks (Mr J. T. Grase) in a letter received by the New Zealand Farmers’ Union. At 'its last conference the union decided to ask the banks to reduce their bookkeeping fee from £1 to 10s, in reply to which ■Mr Grose states that this cannot be-done at the present, time and in existing circumstances. The banks, wrote Mr Grose, provided their many services to the community for a retu’’n (by way of interest and other charges), which provided them with a very narrow margin over work-' ing expenses- ‘‘'On,the other hand, the banks are required to pay income tax, j not on actual income earned as other; companies do, but on an assumed income assessed on an arbitrary basis, ' which beats no relation to the actual income earned. This inequitable method of assessment i s particularly' ’burdensome in time of depression, since it takes no account of reduced incomes ' earned. “When tlie Government increased the note tax from 3 per cent to 41 per cent, the banks, to cover this increased expenditure, raised the charge for keeping current accounts from 10 s to the present rate of £1 per annum, and they are prepared to revert t,o the former charge when the Government reduces the note tax to the old rate of 3 per cent, and the Government has been s® advised