THE BUDGET.

New Zealander, Volume 9, Issue 768, 24 August 1853, Page 3

THE BUDGET.

The following epitome of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's financial statement, which we extract from • the city article of the Times, gitre* a comprehensive glance of the entire echeme. The revenue of the entire year is estimated at £52,9900,000, vi*. : Customs £20,680,000 . Excise 14,64",000 Stamps .. 6,700,000 - Taxes 3,250,000 Income Tax .. 5,550,000 Post Office .. .. 900,0J0 Crown Lands .. .. .. 390,000 Miscellaneous 880,000 Old Stores 460,000 Anticipated Baring from the contemplated " measures for the reduction of the three per cents .. .. •• 100,000 ,£52,990,000 The estimated expenditure is-r- ---• Funded debt .. .. 27,500,000 • Unfunded ditto .. .. 304.000 tmm » -■■■ —— 527,804,000 Consolidated Fund .. 2,50.),000 Army .. .. 6,025,000 Ordnance .. '.. 3.053,000 Miscellaneous .. 4,176,000Commissariat .. 557,000 Mil 'i>a .. .. 530,000 Kaffir war ~ .. 200,000 " Packet service . ~ £00,0.00 " . Surplus .. ~ ~ 807,000 This liurplui of £807,000 (or. in round numbers, *805,000) ' it is proposed to increase to *2,149,000 by new taxes, which will yield £1 ; 3»4 ; C03

during the present year, and whose ultimate production is anticipated to be as follows : Extension of Income Tar to all incomes between. £ICO and £tso per annum, at the rate of 3d. per pound £2.50,000 [The tax to remain at its present rate of 7d. per pound on incomes above that amount until April, 1855 ; then to fall to fid. till 1857 ; and then to be 2d. till 1860, wben it will expire.] Extension of income tax to Ireland 460,000 * £710,000 From this is to be deducted the loss by exempting from tax all sums of income devoted to the purposes of life assurance, estimated at ~ .. £120,000 Net increase of income tax .. 590,000 Extension of legacy duty to real property 2,000,000 Increase of Is. per gallon in duty on Scotch spirits, namely, from 3s. Bd.to4s. Bd. .. £318,003 Less, allowance for waste on spirits in bond .. 40,000 278,000 Increase of Rd. per gallon on Irish spirits, viz., from 2s. Bd. to 3». 4d. £238,000 Less, allowance as above 40,000 470,000 Less, allowance for waste in England .. .. 40,000 . 436,000 Increase from alteration in scale of licences to brewers and dealers in tea, coffee, and soap .. .. .. .. 113,000 £3.139.000 The total gain from these new sources will, therefore, be £3,159,000. From this, however, must be deducted the interest upon £4,000 000, the amount of the debt due from Ireland in connection with the establishment of the poor-law system and the visitation of the famine, which it is proposed entirely to forego, and for which she has hitherto been liable to an annual charge of £240,000. On the other hand, the intended reduction of taxation may be stated as follows : excise. Abolition of (he soap tax .. .. £1,126,000 STAMPS. Reduction of the duty on life assurance from 2s. 6d.to 6d. per cent. .. 29,000 Reduction of receipt stamps from the present scale, ranging from 3d. to 10s., to a uniform rate of one penny .. 155,000 Reduction of duty on indentures of apprenticeship from 20s. to 2s. 6d. Ditto, on attorneys' certificates, from 12/. and 8/. to 9/. and 6/., and on articles of apprenticeship from 120/. to 80/. .. 50,000 Reduction of advertisement duty from Is. Gd. to 6(1., and abolition of stamp duties on newspaper advertisement supplements. 160,000 Reduction of duty on hackney carriages, from Is. sd. to Is. per day .. 26,000 ASSESSED TAXES. Reduction of taxes on men servants to a uniform rate of 1/. Is. on servants above 18 years of age, and 10s. 6d. on servants under 18 •• .. •• 87,000 Ditto on private carriages, at 51. 10s., 21. and 15s. .. .. .. 95,000 Ditto, on horses and ponies, to 1/. Is. and 10s. 6d. .. .. £IIB,OOO Less, alteration of duty on dogs, from 14s. and Bs., to a uniform rate of 12s. •• •• 10,000 Alteration in the post-horse duties, substituting licences for horses and carriages in Heu of mileage tax .. .. 54,000 Reduction of 1* per cent, in charge for redemption of land tax—Not estimated POST OFFICE. Reduction of colonial postage to a uniform rate of 6d .. .. .. 40,000 CUSTOMS. Reduction of the tea duty from 2s. 2]d. to Is. lOd. till sth April, 1854. The duty to descend to Is. 6d. iu the following year, and to Is. 3d. the next year, and thereafter to Is. .. .. 3,000,000 Do. ofduties on apples from 2s. to 3d. per bu«hel; chpese, from ss. to 2s. 6d. per cwt.;cocoa, from 2d. to Id. per lb,; nuts, from 2s. to Is. per bushel; esrgs,from lOd. to4d.per 120; oranges and lemons, to Bd. per bushel; butter, from 10s. to ss. per cwt.; and raisins, from 15s. 9d. to 10s. per cwt. .. .. 262.000 Do. on duties on 133 minor articles of food 70,000 Abolition of duties on 193 .. 53,000 £5,315,000 The total nraount of relief thus to be afforded is, in round numbers, 5,300,000/.; but, for the pn-sent year, it will be limited to 2,568,000/,; while the loss to the revenue, after allowing for increased consumption, will be 1,656,000/. To meet the loss, the new taxes for the same period will produce 1,344,000/., making, with the surplus already calculated, of 8(>5,000/., an available aggregate of 2,149,000/.; and, therefore, on the slb April, 1854, a favourable balance of 493 000/. is still to be anticipated. In attaining this immediate result, the prospects of the future have been rendered still more bright. In 1854 the balance between the taxes imposed and those taken off, will give an additional 220,000. in favour of the country ; and between that period and 1860, wben the 6,140,000 of income tax is to be surrendered, the saving from the reduction of the SJ per cents, and the lapse of the long annu ties, will have been sufficient to render its re-imposition unnecessary. Meanwhile, however, according to past experience, the revenue will have entirely recovered tself, so hbat these savings, as they accrue, will, in fact, be ap picable to new reductions.