The Waikato Times.

Waikato Times, Volume XIII, Issue 1030, 30 January 1879, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

Equal aud exact justice to all mon, Of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political. *■ * * * * Here shall tho Press tho P_oi__'b right mamtaiu, Unawcd by iutlcwucfs and Gubribcd by gain. THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 1879. Till- uiiati of the land owning and land occupying public is much exerci_ed at the present .moment in endeavoring to grapple with tbe contents of certain piece3 of blue paper with which the colony lias becm sown broadcast by tho valuers appointed undei' the Lund Tax. As .i matter of course the Press is appealed lo for explanation and assistaucc. FVoin whit wc learn owners ai_ 1 occiqiiei's of every piece of land in ihe colony are being served wi h forma for each separate property. Eor instance, in the Waikato district a mm may own or occupy property in Waikato County, in Waipa (J j unty and in the Borough of Hamilton. There are valuer.-* appointed for each of these three districts, and he will receive, if he has property in each district, a, form from each valuer, and will return to each valuer a description of property only in that distri/3^. Thu-, the headings ''"County," " lioad District," "Township," and "Borough," will be filled up as the cass may be, according to which place the property is situated" in I Then comes tho descriptions of owner and occupier. Every mau's kuowledge will enable him to till these ia easily enough. 'Ihe Schedule or Form refers here to sections 5. 6, and 7 of the Land Act for ihe guidance of those (Ulin^ iu tho returns, supposing it would , seem that everybody in tho colony poHaeasea a copy of the Land Act, a most erroneous supposition, if it bad been necessary- to refer to tliese clauses they should have been; printed for general information on tho ; back of the forms. Wc- givo them, however, .for the benefit of our readers. j 5. Save as hereinafter mention. d, and subject to. tho provisions of this Act, the following persons shall be deemed to be owners of land for the purposes of tln*3 Act, arid liable to land-tax accordingly, that is to say : — ; (1) Every person entitled to any land for an estate ot freehold in possession ; (2) Every perspn entitled to any laud held under auy lease, license, cr other authority, from the Crown or any Waste Lands Board, as to which he has any right,either absolute or conditional, of acquiring the fee -simple ; (3) Every person holding or occupying any Crown land under any lease or license for pastoral purposes, or being a teuant of any Crown land under 'The Land Act, 1877,"; or "any Act repealed thereby j (_) Every person or body corporate being the lessee of Crown land under any lease granted under the " Mines Act, 1877," or any Act repealed thereby ■ (5) Every tenant of. any laud vested in auy corporate body, School Commissioners, or Trustees, or in any other body or persons, for the purposes of primary or secondary education, or generally for educational purposes ; (6) Every tenant of land vested in trustees, -or in any corporate body, or

iii any persons f.ir or on Ujlialf of any college, • hi^h scboi', or other teaching body established for I'c.q p it-poses of higher education j (7) l_vory tenant of any land Ves od in Council of tiny borough, either by , endowment or generally as a m-Tve for municipal- purposes ; (8) Every sett I or, grantor, assignor, or transferor of r.r.y land oo in prised in any iaii-l comprised in any settlement, grant, alignment, transfer, or conveya ice not m.ude bona fi Io or for valuable oonsidera'iou ; (D) Every ■ pei son. entitled as -afoivsaid subject ! to any mortgage; (LO) Every perI sou entitle 1 to any la d liable fco i duty under thia Act pari ly in one i 'aud- partly-. -'in '■■anb'ther or others of tho foregoing ways. 6. No land owned and occupied by aboriginal mtives only shall be liable to land-tax ; but if such laud has been leased- to -any* person, or is occupied by any other person thau 1 tho aboriginal owner, the tenant 1 sliall,- for the purpose of this Act, be deemed to be tlie owner thereof, pnd shall be liable to land-tax award 7. Thelandsliereinafter mentioned shall be exempt from land-tax ; i (I) Land owned by any religious ' bjdy as a site for a place of worship, and actually used as such ■ (2) Land used as a site of or for any public school established by any Education Board under " The Education Act, 1677," or wliich is or may become 1 subject to inspection by an Inspector appointed under that Act, or as a ! site for any university or college or ; school incorporated by any Acb or Ordinance; (3) Land used or occupied for the purposes of a public cemetery ; (_) Land used aud occupied as the site of a public library, athenaeum, or mechanics' institute, or any public museum; (5) Lmd occupied and used by any agri- , cultural society or friendly society as a place of meeting only, and not for any other purpose ; (0) Land occupied and used by any Municipal Council, County Council, Roard 1 Board, llivcr Board, or Harbour . Board as a place of meeting only, and not for any oilier purpose ; (7) Land occupied and used as a site for charitable institution ; (8) Lands reserve.! for public gardens, domains, or recreation,, or other public re- '- serves nob occupied by a tenant. The area "of the land is next reqnired, and three descriptions of tenure are given, freehold, leasehold, , and license. It may happen that a man may hold properties of all three descriptions in the same district, ' or only of one kind, in which casa he will erase the other two- Ho is also required to stale opposite the - columns of acres tho quality of such land, aud wc should not be at all surprised to find that there is a very larg. proportion of inferior land in the olony. The old adage concera- ' ing the- folly of buying a man at his ' own valuation and selling him at what he is worth will probably be quite inapplicable to Land Tax returns. We next come to the tilling in of the headings of "survey district,'' " square ou plan of distiict," allotment No , section, township, or street." The two first will probably be unknown to most men, but all wil know the number of their allotments and the names of the blocks, the section, township, or street. He will than bo called upon to mate -the capital value of his property 'he price at which it would sell, Against this lie has to make a a set off of exemption for improve- ' ment?. According to the interpretation clauses of the Act."improvements" mean houses and buildings aDd include fencing, planting, draining of land, laying down in grass or pasture and ar«y. Qthej.' improvements, the benefit of which is -: inexhauated at the time .of valuation. '. These aro spo : cifiedjih}t'iie form, and the observations " mis." and " chs." ove 1 ? tho fencing returns are intended for the description jn " miles" and chains." The total of t!?esg improvements will then bo deducted from the capital value, and the : balance remaining will form the basis for t^xabka. Tho tax, which is one half-penny in U-o £ ou tho capital of tho laud, after cjodugth-g therefrom the value of all improvements" thereon, will be levied only ou properties worth more thau i£uoo. Thu? $ property which, after deducting improvements, is of only the value of £500 or Jtss wi}l not be taxed ; it worth eay ,££oo will be taxed only on the sum in excess of c£soo, that is on the <£100, and so on, >