GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2237, 6 August 1891, Page 4

GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Wellington, August 4. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. The Council met at 2,30. p.m. on Tuesday. SECOND READINGS. The Truck Bill and Shop Hours Bill were both read a second time and referred to a Select Committee. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. The House met at 2,30 p.m. on Tuesday. REPLIES TO QUESTIONS. Replying to Captain Russell the Premier said that the Federation resolutions could not be brought up again without notice being given in the usual way. If it was the general desire of the House that the debate should be resumed the Government would be willing to set apart a day. for the; purpose. Replying to other questions it was stated that the Government had no intention :to bring down a State Bank of Issue Bill; that the Government were alive to the necessity of preventing the practice prevailing in England of vendors of mutton selling New Zealand mutton for home-produced and inferior frozen mutton for New Zealand frozen mutton and would do everything in their power to prevent it, THE LAND AND INCOME ASSESSMENT BILL. The Premier moved the second reading of the Land and-Income. Assessment Bill; After explaining the manner in which the Bill .was arranged, he said that the Government had provided as far as possible to ensure secrecy in the collection Of the Income tax, but as to land and mortgages they would necessarily have to be of more public character. Referring in detail to the clauses he pointed out that clause 10 provided that companies carrying on business in the colony shall be at all times represented by a person residing in the colony, who shall be appointed by the company or some agent or attorney. The Government had detirmined to retain the Board of Reviewers although they were objected to under the property tax. There was a; stringent provision in part 4 respecting the taking of land, and the Governor could at any time during the triennial period purchase for Her Majesty any land or any interest mentioned in any return under this Act, and may pay to the person or company making such a return the sum at which the land is valued together with 10 per cent, of the value. That portion of the schedule relating to the improvements contained, a provision that improvement must have been affected more than 10 years prior to the Assessment, but the improvements could be made 40 years before, so long as they were visible at the time of assessment’ all visible improvements would' be subject to taxation. The 10 years’ provision was made to prevent people from bringing forward improvements which were not improvements. He had not seen any reason ta alter the proposals for a land tax contained in the Financial Statement; It had been said that thb Government taxation .proposals would falh with great severity on a particular class of the community, but he held.that.they would riot press heavily onone class, namely the improvers. It had been said that the unimproved land would only ’ pay 5 per cent., but it would be ridiculous to say that if such 1 land. wore- cut up it 1 would not pay, more than that.. If they could make those owners of large unimproved tracts of country assist the . Government work of colonisation there would be a wave of prosperity all through the colony as the result. He regarded the banks as altogether different from other companies, and the Government proposed to’ bring those institutions under the system of income tax pure and simple. Investment companies would be placed on the same, footing- as the banks but building societies would be exempt, as they were under the Property Assessment Act. Friendly societies and saving banks would also be exempt from taxation, In regard to trade and commerce they proposed to exempt those up to £3OO, and a tax of 6d in the £ would be imposed to £IOOO and over that Is. The railways would be taxed on their income and riot, on the land they occupied, but if > they . owned large areas of land outside their lines they would be liable to a land tax. As far as the exemption of improvements was concerned he should be prepared to go as far as’any member of the House, provided the necessary revenue be raised. Their desire should be to obtain a pure land tax, and if they had not proposed that it was because the necessities of the country had not allowed them to go further than they had done- As to Mr Shera’s proposed amendment that no exemption from improvements should be made, he asked the House not to agree to that, He desired to. say that building socities pure and simple, not loan companies, would be exempt from taxation, but loan companies would pay income tax only, It had been objected that no difference should be made between professional incomes and those of trade and commerce, but he held that there was a wide difference, and the proposals of the Government on that head were sound. As to the resolutions passed by the various Chambers of Commerce hhf experience was that those chambers invariably worked agajnst the Liberal interest, and lie yarned the House not to be misled by the rasolutions. In conclusion he hoped that members Ayould reserve the chief portion of their re_m.arks till the Bill got into Committee, Mr Bryce had no particular fault to find with the machinery of the Bill except, perhaps, that it was rather vague. In regard to the Premier’s statement about the secrecy of the income tax, he pointed out that in America a different system prevailed, as they relied there on' the

fullest publicity to prevent fraud. He thought With the experience of the property tax before him that the Prenier should- have avoided giving the Commissioners too much power under the Bill. With respect to the Board of Reviewers he suggested to the Premier that if he desired to make the land tax a permanency and popular, care should be taken not to make the valuations too high, but rather 'under the mark. His opinion was that - the clause giving power to purchase at a value stated in the returns would work very badly, because too much power was given to the Commissioners, who might make it very harassing to the owners; Referring to that portion of the schedule 1 .which provided that improvements must have been effected more than 10 years prior to the assessment he felt sure the Premier must have interpreted the clause wrongly. His (Mr Bryce’s) view was that tinder the clause if a man felled a piece of bush and an assessment was made 12 years afterwards, that could not be called an improvement. Under that provision he held 10 years was altogether too short. „ With respect to the graduated tax he held that as it stood it might very well apply to improvements, although the Premier said it was not so intended. There may be many features - of the Bill highly objectionable., It,.was well known that an income tax - produced-irritation and annoyance; and also infused a great deal of vice into the community. As for putting a tax on bad land, or the value of it, he held that if they imposed a disability of any kind on land which did not apply to other property ' they would prevent the flow, of capital to the soil, and that was not a desirable, sort of thing to do. Except in a, case of extremity he objected to mortgagees being exempted from the graduated tax, as mortgagees must be looked upon as the very worst form of absentees. He was ■ not 1 aware what the income tax would produce. (The Premier: Professional £15,000; trade and commerce £40,000). - If the income tax, altogether;' with the tax on * companies included reached £75,000 or-£80,600, hequestioned whether it was wise to introduce all this machinery for‘the purpose of raising that sum. In concluding he suggested that the debate on the Bill in Committee should be reported in Hansard. Mr Scobie Mackenzie - declared that Ministers were political marionettes whose strings were; pulled-by the /banks, through the Attorney-General. Tho> Bill was in every. respect a pernicious one,-; and it would materially injure the- colony, and the working classes in particular. Mr Rees said further debate on the Bill at this stage - was simply waste of time;- - Dr; Newman moved an amendment to the effect that a tax should be imposed on absentees. Such a tax was the only fair and reasonable way of reaching people who hitherto had failedi. to. contribute their proper share of the taxation of the country. Mr;Taylor, spoke in support of the Bill. Mr Harkness moved the adjournment of the debate. The motion was agreed to and the House rose at midnight.