£2,200,319, and from property, £962,104. The incomes for the three years, 1899 to 1901, were: These sums do not represent the total income, being exclusive of the exemptions allowed by law to incomes under £200. For the year 1901 the total incomes subject to taxation were : 9,632 incomes, exclusive of exemption £3,162,423 1,771,600 £4,934,023 Included in the taxable incomes are those of 135 persons not resident in the state, and 182 companies, both local and with head offices outside the state. The receipts from income tax during the last ten years are shown in the following table : DIVIDEND AND COMPANIES TAX IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA. Of all the states, Western Australia was the last to introduce the system of direct taxation; but, the field of taxation was restricted to the income and dividends of companies. The Act authorising this taxation is known as the Companies Duty Act of 1899. The main object aimed at by Parliament in sanctioning this partial taxation of incomes was to secure to the state some portion of the golden harvest of the mining fields; and although the Act has not been sufficiently long in operation to enable a full estimate of its effects to be obtained, it is quite plain that the fears of its opponents-that it would scare capital away from the state-have not been, and are not likely to be, realised. It was originally proposed that the charges should be 5 per cent. on dividends, whether called by the name of dividends, bonuses, profits, interest, or any other term; but on bonuses of insurance companies, 1 per cent. only. Ultimately, life insurance companies were 4 The exempted from the operation of the Act, and fire and marine insurance companies were required to pay on their net premiums. All other incorporated companies and banks, were to pay on their declared profits, and local companies on their dividends. In view of the Act being regarded as legislation of an experimental character, it was thought desirable to limit its existence to a period of about three years. Provision was therefore made that the measure should only remain in force until the 31st December, 1902. The net receipts from the tax on companies during the past three years were as follows: LAND AND INCOME TAXATION IN TASMANIA. The land tax payable in Tasmania is at the rate of d. in the £ on the total capital value of land, with a deduction of d. in the £ on account of mortgages. The exemptions comprise land the property of a municipal corporation or other local authority, or of a registered friendly society; the site of a State school under the Education Department; of a public library or museum; of the Tasmanian Museum; of a hospital or benevolent asylum or other building used solely for charitable or religious purposes, or land vested in trust for public purposes; public roads; cemeteries which are not owned by joint-stock or public companies; and public reserves, gardens, and recreation grounds. Crown lands held on lease are also exempted from taxation, but if they have been purchased on credit the occupier is required to pay tax, provided one-half of the price has been paid or has become due. The owner of the land is looked to directly for the amount of the tax, unless he resides out of the state or cannot be found, in which case the occupier becomes responsible, but is allowed to deduct the sum from the amount of his rent. The Commissioner has power to let the land if the tax remains unpaid six months after it has become due, or, with the approval of a Judge of the Supreme Court, to sell it if the tax has remained unpaid for two years; and it is provided that the balance of the proceeds, after the amount of the tax, with costs and expenses, has been deducted, shall be handed over to the owner of the rented property or the original owner of the property which has been sold. As the value of the land rated is declared by law to be the sum which the fee simple would sell for, the tax is not purely a land tax, but a tax on real estate The Income Tax Act formerly in force in the state provided that 8d. per £ should be payable on incomes derived from personal exertion, 1s. per £ on incomes the produce of property, and 1s. per £ on the profits of public companies. The chief exemptions were the revenues of municipal corporations and other local authorities; incomes of companies, societies, or public bodies or trusts not carrying on business with a view to a distribution of profits amongst their shareholders or members; the funds and incomes of registered friendly societies and trade unions; income accruing to foreign investors in Tasmanian Government stock; rents from land subject to land tax; incomes of banking and insurance companies which have not their head offices in the state (and which are specially taxed); and incomes of persons who had not been resident in the state for at least twelve months. It was provided that persons deriving income from sources outside the state should not be taxed in respect of the same if income tax had been paid upon the money in the state or country whence it was derived. In the case of incomes derived from personal exertion, an exemption was made of all incomes not exceeding £150; on incomes exceeding £150 and not exceeding £400, the sum of £120 escaped taxation; but all incomes exceeding £400 in amount were taxed to the full extent. Where the income was the produce of property, incomes not exceeding £100 in amount were exempt from taxation; but only £80 was exempted when the income exceeded £100 and did not exceed £400; and no exemption was allowed when the income was in excess of £400 per annum. It was also provided that, when the income was derived from both sources, no tax should be payable if the total amount exceeded £150 and the part derived from property was less than £100; but when the income from the combined sources exceeded £150 in amount and was less than £400, a certain deduction was made, provided the part derived from property was less than £100, or the part derived from personal exertion was less than £150; the deduction, however, was to be made in such a manner that the amount of tax payable should not be less than if the whole of such income had been derived either from property or from personal exertion. This Act expired on the 31st December, 1897, and, in the latter year, an Amending Act was passed, providing for the continuation of so much of the original Act as related to dividends and incomes of companies only, and further continuing Acts have been passed, the latest of which became law in 1899, extending the period to the 31st December, 1902. The land tax of Tasmania is levied on a capital value of over 20 millions sterling, and yields from £30,000 to £40,000 a year. The estates subject to taxation in 1901 numbered 44,417. The following is the result of six years' working: The income tax, or more properly companies dividend tax, is levied on from thirty to forty companies, the major part of the tax being obtained from a few large mining companies. The returns for the last four years were— LAND AND INCOME TAXATION IN NEW ZEALAND. In New Zealand the Land and Income Tax Assessment Act imposes a tax upon incomes and an ordinary tax upon land and mortgages, the amount of which it is provided shall be fixed annually by a Rating Act; and also an additional graduated tax upon the unimproved value of land, the rates of which are fixed by the Assessment Act. The rate of the ordinary tax upon land and mortgages at present stands at 1d. in the £ of capital value. It is provided that the owner of any land shall pay the tax on the actual value of his land, and also on the value of any mortgages which he may hold over other land, less the value of improvements, and of any mortgage which may be owing on his land. If, then, the net value does not exceed £1,500, an exemption of £500 is allowed, but for every £2 by which the net value exceeds the sum of £1,500 the exemption of £500 is reduced by £1, so that when the value reaches the sum of £2,500 there is no exemption at all. In the case of land owned and mortgages held by persons incapacitated by age, illhealth, or other cause from earning further income from business or employment, the exemption of £500 is raised to £2,000 if the annual income produced by the land and mortgages does not amount to a larger sum than £200. Mortgages are treated as land, and the holder is allowed the exemption of £500 from the ordinary tax. The graduated land tax is imposed on all land possessing an unimproved value of £5,000 and upwards, an important difference between the two taxes being that the mortgagee escapes the graduated tax, and no deduction is allowed to the mortgagor in consideration of any sum which may be advanced on the property. It is proIvided that on an unimproved value of £5,000 and under £10,000, 1d. per £ shall be payable; on £10,000 and under £15,000, d.; £15,000 and under £20,000, d.; £20,000 and under £25,000, d.; £25,000 and under £30,000, gd.; £30,000 and under £40,000, d.; £40,000 and under £50,000, d.; £50,000 and under £70,000, id.; £70,000 and under £90,000, 11d.; £90,000 and under £110,000, 14d.; £110,000 and under £130,000, 1d.; £130,000 and under £150,000, 11d; £150,000 and under £170,000, 1ğd.; £170,000 and under £190,000, 13d.; £190,000 and under £210,000, 13d.; and £210,000 and over, 2d. per £.; and it is further provided that an absentee, who is declared to be a person who has been absent from or resident out of the colony for a period of three years or more, shall pay a graduated tax of 20 per cent. additional to the schedule rates. It is provided that returns of land and mortgages shall be made biennially. Purchasers of Crown lands on credit are liable to taxation, and the owner of a leasehold interest in land is liable to taxation in respect of the value of such interest. The exemptions comprise Crown lands; lands vested in the Railway Commissioners and in local governing bodies; land used solely in connection with a place of worship or a place of residence for the clergy of any religious body, or in connection with public schools established under the Education Act of 1877, or with any other school not carried on exclusively for gain or profit, but the maximum area of land exempted for the purposes of any school carried on for profit is 15 acres; the site of a university or college, or school incorporated by any Act or Ordinance, or the site of a public library, athenæum, mechanics' institute, or school of mines; a public cemetery or burial-ground; the ground or place of meeting of any agricultural society, provided it be the property of such society; the place of meeting of a friendly society or Masonic lodge, or of a registered building society; land used for the purposes of public charitable institutions constituted under the Hospitals and Charitable Institutions Act, and of other charitable institutions not carried on for gain or profit; public gardens, domains, or recreation or other public reserves not occupied by a tenant, and all public roads and streets; land owned and occupied by Maoris, and not leased to or occupied by any person other than the Maori owner; and any public railway, including the land occupied and used as permanent way and for yards, stations, and sheds, and all buildings used for the purposes of railway traffic only. Further exemptions comprise all land owned and mortgages held by any friendly society within the meaning of the Act; all land owned and mortgages held by any savings bank constituted under the Savings Bank Act of 1858; all land owned and mortgages held by the Commissioners of Sinking Funds |
