THE VICTORIAN LAND TAX.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 923, 23 May 1878, Page 3

THE VICTORIAN LAND TAX.

It will be seen, from the subjoined extract < ? iilom the ' Argus ' Summary fee Europe, that the receipts from the Victorian land tax will Jail veryiar short of the expectations of its originators: — . "As the classifications under the Land : ; Tajc,' Act are being published, theinjustice 1 of ;th o measure of taxation, and its failure '^tb 1 realise 'tile aims" of its promoters, are beoouiiilgmore and more apparent. Under the -Act, the laud is divided into four classes,' the -first being land capable of carrying two sheep to the acre ; the second, three sheep to two acres; the third, a sheep to the acre ; and the f ourth, less than a sheep, to the acre ; the charges are respectively— ls, 9d,.6d, 3d, per aero. Chief Secretary submitted' the following estimate' of the taxable area : — First class land, 2,300,000 acres; second ■ ■ class, 1^774,000 acres; third class, 1,221,000 acres; total, 5,29/3,000 acres. As to the .fourth: class, he declared that there was scarcely any land of that class held m sufficiently large quantities to come ■within the 'scope of' taxation. Actual facts, hpwevpr, show that the hon. gentleman was entirely mistaken. The return last published gives the following totals with regard to estates over 5000 acres : — First class land, 17,711 acres ; second class, 26,965 acres ; third class, 180,038 acres ; fourth class, 203,033 acres. The batch includes the large estates m (the dounties 'of Ripon, Rodney, and Grenville, and if these districts are ' not ; the most favorably situated m the colony', neither are they the least. Intho pick of the "Western district there will be more first-class land than this particular list shows, but the earlier returns go to "demonstrate that even there the third and fourth class will predominate. In fact, Ihe Government arc all abroad m their calculations. Land Avhich thej r imagined would be classified as first-claps is put .into, the second and third division, and •their second-class land figures m the third and fourth schedules. While some of the owners of poor laud are saddled with a burden which is ruinous, and which Ministers never dreamed of imposing upon men of their, position, some owners of rich lands, at all events, will escape that heavy penalty which Ministers hniigered and thirsted to exact. The tax apparently will be partial, hitting this man heavily and sparing another. One .important point is that as the revenue estimate was based on the assumed overwhelming preponderance of the first-class land,, Ihe falling . off m receipts must bj3 '"'very marked. .The ex'pei-ts, comparing the published lists with the amounts put -* ddtvn for the districts whieh' they coyer, not believe now that the^HO.Obo will be obtained, and the sum originally stated ! ' l was 1 ;fi2i2,000. As to the £10,000 which • waV named as the suni required 'to work the Act, it .is being exceeded liberally, by the employment of a horde of classifiers at three guineas per day or £1 100 per annum. The .sum , now named for expenses is '• '.£50,000 'for the year, arid' the Treasurer will be fortunate if his tax nexts him £90,000. • Indeed, the latest returns make it doubtful whether the gross return of the tax will be more than £100,000."