BURDEN OF TAXATION.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 341, 23 January 1937, Page 3

BURDEN OF TAXATION.

RECORD LEVELS IN AUSTRALIA. I TIME FOR STOCKTAKING ARRIVES. j Taxation in Australia continues lt« steady upward trend In the financial year ended June 30 the amount 091I lected In taxes was £100,077,000, a ; record, making the tax £l4 4s id a head of population. Fifteen years ! ago, in 1920-21, the aggregate of - I Federal and Stale taxation wa,a £70,681,000. Taxation yields have been rising ’ since 1931, but expenditure has been Increasing coreepondlngly, states the Melbourne Argus. In the last financial year the aggregate excess of I revenue over expenditure for the seven I Governments was £1,125,000, but'i - ' notwithstanding this, Victoria, New 1 South Wales, Queensland and TasI mania all showed deficits, which, will - not be liquidated from the large plus accruing to the Federal Treasury I Although revenue Is buoyant, re- ’ J i fleeting improved conditions of trade ’ I and Industry, most of the-States are I not yet making ends meet. 1 So long as primary exports are able Ito be marketed overseas at prices I which leave a surplus of exports over I niports sufficient to meet at least the 1 amount needed to service oversea ieht charges, £28,000,000 annually, | Australia will not suffer Cnanelat embarrassment. It should be remem- “ j aered, however, that the reserve of Australian funds In London to meet my sudden contingency arising from a fall of world prices, which occurred without warning In 1929-30, Is perl- ■ lously low, the latest estimate being I about £35,000.000, compared with i £68,000,000 two years previously. : High taxation Invariably accompanies lavish expenditure, and lavish expenditure by Governments tends to bring about Indiscriminate borrowing. Pessimistic utterances are always distasteful, but a period of relative prosperity is surely a time appropriate to take stock. Taxation is high, and 1 although times are good, the limit of I the taxable capacity of the community j must not be far oIT. Expenditure is 1 rising, interest rates are moving upward. and the people of Australia have had to meet the highest taxation bill in history. All these things suggest strongly that the time Is sußable for rational and national stocktaking. *