The Manawatu Herald. Tuesday, August 31, 1915. THE NEW TAXATION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1442, 31 August 1915, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Tuesday, August 31, 1915. THE NEW TAXATION.

Commenting on the Budget the Wellington Post says : “Although the Budget, as a whole, presents an equitable basis of taxation, there are some anomalies which are sure to provoke much criticism. For example, by a process not yet clear to the public, the excise from beer is to yield an additional and it is understood that “the Trade’’ may not be able to pass the whole of that amount on to the consumers. Many people of New Zealand will have a belief, from the Budget, that liquor is escaping lightly. The beer excise, at 3d a gallon, produced ,£127,660 last year. Why should not beer bear an excise of fid during the war period ? This could be expected to yield an extra 20,000, instead of the doubtful ,£55,000, by a computation of “the specific gravity of worts pitched for fermentation.’’ Spirits have still more remarkable leniency, by the trifle of is a gallon, producing about ,£45,000. Thus, between them, beer and spirits are to escape with an additional levy of about ,£IOO,OOO (or about 3 per cent, of the annual value of alcoholic liquor drunk by New Zealand. At the same time kerosene —“the poor man’s light”—is hit to the tune of qd a gallon, a total of ,£50,000 a year. It has to be remembered also that the amount ot the duty is not the only additional charge passed on to the public. The dealers’ practice is to add something substantial to the duty. Meanwhile the holders of stocks (cleared before the new law came into force) are reported to be adding up to qd a gallon to kerosene. This means an absolutely unearned increment of qd a gallon, and it is exploitation, of course. The doubling of the 3d telephone bureau charge and making the fid fee apply to subscribers may prove to be a vexatious tax, and the 2d impost on all telegrams will also be unpopular. Our belief is that if liquor had been fairly charged, the Government would have been able to cut out two or three minor taxation schemes, which may produce more irritation and inconvenience than the revenue Is worth,”