TAXES IN AUSTRALIA

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 May 1940, Page 5

TAXES IN AUSTRALIA

ADDITIONAL £20,000,000

TO BE RAISED

TREASURER’S BUDGET PROPOSALS.

DIRECT AND INDIRECT LEVIES.

Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. CANBERRA, May 2.

New taxation was announced by the Federal Treasurer, Mr. Spender, when presenting the Budget in the House of Representatives today. He said increases in income tax would yield an extra £4,000,000, of which £3,000,000 would be collected during the next financial year. He pointed out that this would represent about a 50 per cent, increase over the whole field.

Exemption from income tax would remain at £250 for single men and £4OO for married men with two children.

Two new company taxes would be introduced to provide almost £5,000,000 between them, while the present land tax rates would be doubled.

Sales tax would rise from 6 per cent; to 8 1-3 per cent., yielding an additional £5,000,000. Increases in Customs and excise duties were expected to produce an extra £5.300,000, and estate duties an extra £500,000. Mr. Spender added , that the new taxes affecting business would be described as a war time company tax and a tax on undistributed profits. Neither of these would apply to the gold mining industry. The estimated additional revenue to be obtained next year by the foregoing proposals totals £20,000,000, of which £10,300,000 will be from indirect taxation and £9,700,000 from direct taxation.