Big and Small Incomes Cut By War Taxes

Taranaki Daily News, 1 September 1942, Page 4

Big and Small Incomes Cut By War Taxes

British Official Wireless.

Rugby, Aug. 30. Britain's flnancial front stands firm and strong, and has made a vital contribution to the war effort, said Sir Kingsley Wood, Chancellor of the Ejcchequer, in a speech at Dundee. This front, he emphasised, was based on the heaviest possible taxation, borrowing at low interest rates and the utmost saving. Small savings since the beginning of the war amount to £1,500,000,000. The Budget of 1941 had increased by 4,000,000 the number of persons on smaller incomes liable to direct taxation, and there were to-day some 9,500,000 wage earners and others with small incomes who were making a direct contribution to the war of some £270,000,000 a year through income tax. The weight of taxation to-day, he said, was such that if we were to take away every penny of income above £2000 from those whose incomes at present exceeded £2000 a year the gain to the Exchequer would only be about £30,000,000. It was estimated the number with incomes between £1000 and £2000 have fallen since 1938 from 155,000 to 105,000, those between £2000 and £4000 from 56,000 to 30,750, those between £4000 and £6000 from 12,000 to 1170 and those with £6000 or more to 80. The Chancellor also mentioned that during the last war the rate of interest on war loans increased from 5 to 6 per cent., but in this war there had not been paid more than 3 per cent. and succes6ive issues had been made on even more favourable terms to'the Treasury than its predecessors.