THE Wairarapa Age. MORNING DAILY MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 1908. AN INCOME TAX RETURN.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9157, 3 August 1908, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age. MORNING DAILY MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 1908. AN INCOME TAX RETURN.

It is enough to make the individual of satirical disposition smile grimly when he is informed that the Government desires an equitable system of taxation, that, in fact, the equity of the pre3ent system is not in the very least to be doubted. A return relating to income tax recently prjsenteJ to Parliament, should absolutely convince the unbiassed thinker that there is nothing in the nature of equity in New Zealand's taxation system. Admittedly taxation should be evenly distributed, the burden bo-ne by each member of the State should be equal so far as it is possible to make it, always keeping in sight, of course, the respective duties that devolve upon the various classes of th* body politic. The people of limited means in this country are taxed, metaphorically speaking, from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head, yet we have quite a large number of people, considering our very limited population,^who are enormously wealthy. Can it, therefore,

be said that the burden of taxation is equally borne, that it is equitably distributed? The return in question presented to Parliament shows the total amount of income-tax returned for 1907 8. Persons with an income of between £3OO and £I,OOO constitute the majority. The detailed particulars given are as follow: Between. Total. Persons. 300 and 1,000 3,926,056 7,951 1,000 and 2,000 1,395,699 997, 3,0'00 and 4,000 454,752 132 4.000 and 5,000 300,532 68 5,000 and 10,000 818,415 119 Over 10,000 " 2,813,398 101 Jotals ... £10,180,9 ! 33 9,583 From the above return it is evident the average income, roughly, of thosV who pay income tax is> £1,062 per annum, bit of the 9,583 persons, who are taxed on account of their incomes, 101 have each an income approximating £30,000 per annum. The return is, of course, incomplete. It should be shown what classes in the communit/ are the wealthiest, and the Government, in view of all the information that it possesses, should .regulate its taxation system accordingly, alleviating the burden where it presses heavily, and increasing it where it is now but lightly borne. Will the present Government, or any Government that we are likely to have in this country, take such a matter in hand? "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots?"