THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 1919. THE SYSTEM OF TAXATION.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 13 June 1913, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 1919. THE SYSTEM OF TAXATION.

TJw peopfe ot Ney&aai&ad at fflNK' seat afflicted «ii& ''Moiitf'* dozen different forpis of tkxaMem. . There is, • flfst of aeH» -Oaistoaxis' tax, to triiicjk everybody, riWfci and poor, large and small, has tfrdwitaibttte, * Tfren thete ■ id the3asd tax, the income tax, the excisetax, the factory tax, the charitable aid tax, the local government the mortgage tax, and Various other forms of taxation, not forgetting the birtb tax, the marriage tax, and the death tax. The primary object of taxation is, of course, to raise the revenue required to maintain the paWic services. Nobody a rigfrt to repudiate his responsi bility v in tits oanneeiion. .One is entitled, however, to critioiss) the systems of taxation, suad the cost of raising the revenue. At tlw present- tiaui «« hare not the slightest doubt that tba oast of coUeeting the various taiee in Sew Zealand is out of aU proportum to iifce aaioaint is And vra are also convinced tfcat the system of taxation is neither, equrtr able nor just. Tfce land tax, fcr instance, is imposed withautvrfche of b»4riraer to pagr. Sfc® Omtqma tax | piaoea a b»rd»n upo«* the a hoaWtepg of fcfca poor :.,maay and partiimtoy npon the was #itli a tenity, ifeafc is a&*®t j&Bba«rab4«. Hoc? i« iW; ct!y {& appMf Wa iiave matter very Aeap «g*i«<iJwart«>A. e>4 era fcwwtf He Mb wujfofliaft 1M tfe j mW aiguStflWl dS tnß<l to j fSw flpMdmrind iaocsme t*x, witfi a i»» j flwttai i* SS» pe—f ef eoMftpftuL. ! m raft t tar i&■#•»*, •»!tei iia $»

abolished, and an immense saving be effected in tha coat of collection. Oar propositi is that there should be an incpmortax, with in exenqptioa. of £SO for every mala and female ;adttlt, and i 223 for erwy child, The single man wouid then p»y » small income tax on every pound earned over £5& The -nan-ied man, without ft family, would be exempted up to £IOO. If there were four children in bis family, ho would pay no tax until he bad earaed over £3OO. The effect of such a &ystom of taxation would be to afford an immediate relief to- the man who in doing his duty by the State, and tha problem of a defining birthrate would bo solved for all time. The moo-no tax should be so graduated that tho man receiving a large income, whether from salary, business, or real estate, would contribute the largest qtaota towards the revenue. Under this proposal, if a farmer, say, had a bad year, he would contribute a proportionately less amount than if he had a good year. So also with tho business man. We shall be told that under such a system it would be necessary for everybody to keep books, and that there would be difficulties in arriving at the income of a floating population. In answer to this objection, we would point oat that' tha book-keeping required by working men with families would not be important, as most of them would be exempt from taxation. Single men oould very easily keep the books re- < quired. Indeed, their incomes oould be ascertained from the pay-sheets kept, by their employers. Our contention ia that- if it is possible to collect an income tax on incomes of £3OO per year and over; it should also l?e passible to collect the tax on incomes under that amount. The whole work could ins carried„ out by one Department, and the services of the hundreds of men who are now employed in collecting Customs duties and land tax could be dispensed with. One great advantage of an universal graduated inoome-tax would be that every person would know exactly what he was paying to the Statfy and he would take a greater interet |in political matters. Another di&tinct advantage would be that the tax would fall upon those who are best able to pay, and the man with a family would not be penalised, as he is at present. Companies would, of course ( be treated in the same manner as they are under the existing income tax. The system that we have outlined nay not be perfect. It may be surrounded with difficulties. But we are convinced that, in the bancs of actuaries and capable business men", it could be so elaborated that it would confer an inestimable boon upon a very large section of the community. Wo should be very., pleased to hare an expression of opinion on the subject from the Farmers' Union, . the Labour Party, and others who mny be sufficiently interested to give the matter consideration. If a strong agitation were gtarted throughout tho country in favour of the wiping out of the Customs tax and the laud tax, and the substitution of a graduated income tax, we hav.e no doubt that, would, ffeel compelled to raove in the matter. ,