The Wairarapa Daily. MONDAY, JUNE 16, 1879.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 186, 16 June 1879, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. MONDAY, JUNE 16, 1879.

We are indebted to the New Zealand Times for the lucid statement given below of practical difficulties which surround the inauguration of the Land Tax, There are points on which oven sub-Commissioners are hazy and even Ministeis obscure, so that the landholder, unless versed in the .technicalities of legal enactments, stands a poor chance of holding his own against the valuer. It is unfortunate that between the periods of valuation and assessment there has been a serious fall in the value of landed property, so that estimates which were in the first instance fair and reliable, are now in excess. If to this cause of disturbance be added the blunders of incapable valuators—and there have been incapable as well as capable ones—the work of the Commissioner and the Assessment Courts will be extremely arduous. When, after many'days, the tax is.garnered into the Treasury, we should fancy that the not result will be about sufficient to compensate the Civil servants, who have been worried to death in bringing the Act into operation. The tax is bad in theory, and worse in practice. Under it a man whose income is but £SOO a year, may pay more than one whose income is il,ooo per annum, Supposing A, owns 1,000 acres* of encumbered land and B. 500 acres unincumbered property, it is easy to see A. might make a for smaller income out of his 1,000 acres than B, would out of his 500. In practice the tax is bad because the cost of collection and valuation absorbs too large a proportion of the income. Our contemporary, the Times, speaking of the impending objections multitudinous, says

As many persons, especially in the country districts, have great difficulty in understanding some of the" fearfully and wonderfully" constructed provisions of the Land Tax Act, we give a few explanations of some of them. In the first place it might be desirable to draw attention to the fact that Wednesday next, 18th inst., will be tho lust day for to givo objections, There is every reason to believe the time allowed has been far too short, and that many, people will, in consequence suffer injustice, but we imagine if anyone can prove that lie has not had sufficient timo to obtain the necessary forms, and to send his objection in by the 17th, the Supreme Court, acting on general principles of equity, would, if moved thereto, grant a mwiddnuis compelling the Commissioner to accept the objections, though made later,' This, however, would probably involve a greater expenditure than the tax would amount to, and few persons will be found willing to adopt such a course even in order to get justice, proceed, immediately after the 18th the Deputy Commissioners . for the respective districts will consider the objections and report upon them to the Commissioner, who will ■.decide upon them. The persons interested, if the objections are allowed, will be informeil that it will not be necessary for them to attend' at' .the Assessment Courts. If they get no notice, then of course they must attend tlie Assessment Conrt, and in due form support their objection, fourteen days' notice of 'the sittings of which will be duly given. So'ne appeals have been received from the lessees of native lapds. These appellants objectio pay. anythe ground that natiyo lands are exempt. However, this. is J m erroneous' view.. The sixthiclause of theUQt mns ag . followsNo land owned anl occupied by aboriginal natives only shall b|L b]e to lan J tay_butifsuchtoataj^fcj^i^^

than the aboriginal owner, the tenant shall, for .the purposes,of this Act, be deemed to he the owner thereof, and shall bo liable to land tax accordingly."' Other persons object that they have let their land for more than three years, and that under class 50 they are exempt, This is an error, That clause simply provides that where the land is let for a term not less than three years then the land tax payablo in respect of such land shall bo apportioned in a particular way, but that in no degreo frees the owner of the feo simple from liability. Should any dispute arise on the question of apportionment the Commissioner will settle it. Tho following calculations of the amount of tax payable in somo instances may he useful

Each person is entitled to one exemption of £SOO, and the above rates show the amount of tax on value after improvements have been deducted and the expmption of £SOO has beeu allowed for, Many persons find difficulty in estimating the amount they have to pay, therefore an illustration or two of the practical working of the tax may be given. Take, for instance, the following Property, gross value £16,350 Improvements 5,350 £II,OOO Exemption £OO £10,500 _ The tax on £10,500 is £2117s Gil, payable in half-yearly instalments. Property, gross value £1,250 Improvements 325 £925 Exemption 500 £425 Tax, 17s Bil. Property £l,lOO Improvements COO £SOO Exemption 500

No tax to pay. Examples might also be given of cases in which people have had to go to great trouble although they only had something under Is to pay.

The tax on—£10 is £ 8, D. .. 0 0 5 „ £50 .. 0 2 1 » .. £100 .. .. 0 4 2 it )i £500 .. 1 0 10 „ „ £1000 .. .. 2 18 „ „ £5000 .. .. 10 8 4 „ „ £10,000 .. .. 20 16 8 jj ij . £50,000 •. .. 104 3 4 „ £100,000 .. .. 203 (j 8