The Daily News. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1920. TAXATION CHANGES.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 September 1920, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1920. TAXATION CHANGES.

The ne\y taxation proposals passed by the House on Tuesday are not as comprehensive as could have been desired. As a matter of fact the Premier's proposals merely touch the fringe of the most important subject entrusted to Parliament. A measure of relief has been afforded to mortgagors by the raising of the exemption from £ISOO to £3OOO and fixing a similar ratio for the sliding scale. The contention of Mr. Yeitch that a increase should have been made in the higher grades of land tax, to ensure the bursting up of big estates, cannot be refuted, and there is no getting away from the justness of the claim that substantial increases should be made in the taxation of the larger incomes and on death duties coming within the same category. Mr, Massey's statement that "he did not approve of relying on people dying to get our revenue," is one of the most remarkable utterances ever made by a Finance Minister. That source of revenue for the Treasury is one that is universally recognised throughout the Empire as being most legitimate and politic, and the Premier's attitude thereon is surprising. Among the other proposals are some that will be heartily welcomed, even though they are belated. One of these is the imposition of an extra fifty per cent, of taxation on land that is held in an unimproved state in large blocks in various parts of the Dominion. If the Government is really in earnest over rectifying this evil, which has existed far too long already, it should impose this extra fifty per cent, straight away, double the additional tax in twelve months' time, and continue the pijocess until the land becomes sufficiently productive to bear its fair share towards the prosperity of the country. In all such cases there should be special valuations placed on this class of land, which is merely held for speculative purposes, and the owners of which deserve not the slightest consideration, whether they be Natives or Europeans. Equally satisfactory is the recognition that parents with families are entitled to further relief from income tax by means of an allowance of £SO in respect of each child up to the age of eighteen years. The discrimination made between earned and

year is also a progressive move. Whether the proposal in relation to shipping companies will be effective remains to be seen. It may have the effect of inducing these companies to remove their headquarters from New Zealand, and this eventuality should be met in a way that will prevent evasion of full taxation. It is fair that incomes derived from debentures should be taxed in the ordinary way, and not at a flat rate—an anomaly that should never have existed. "With regard to the new land tax proposal, it is significant that Mr. Massey only believes that the aggregate amount produced by the tax will be increased. Unless a material addition is secured there must be some-i-thing wrong in the framing of the I scale. To place the highest rate of taxation when the unimproved value of the land reaches £138,000 is far too low, as those possessing land above that value are the class who should pay on a heavy sliding scale. The same may be said of the alterations as resrsi'ds income tax. The Bill in some ways contains improvements, but, as we have said, it hardly more than touches the fringe of the subject, leaving important amendments for the future, and there is justification for the 'disappointment that will be felt at such an important matter failing to cover effectually the whole ground.