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FEDERAL LANft JAX.
* ? , ? ? ? \ ? ' r
Relief r Proposals;
Valuation Boards
: ' V CANBERRA. Fridar.
.''In the House of Representativei.,
. this, afternoon the Treasurer (Dr.
? Earle Page) moved' theJ Beco^d
ment Bill, - and - indicated the
'* measures of relief, along with' the '.
reduction! of 10 per cent.'propos'ed
? ,. to be given' to taxpayers. c ; ....
As a permanent settlement,, on ^..satis
factory- basis,, of .the .vexed 'question', of
Commonwealth . and State financial-, rela
tionships 'was- in sight and it seemed- quit*
definitely established ' that , the Federal
Government would continue to collect
land- and income taxes, said., Dr.1 Page, the
Government had given careful considera
tion to the measure of relief it could give
at -this moment. ' That relief was, being
given, not only in a 10 per cent: reduction
of rates, but' also by .modifying the -pro-
visions of' the Taxing Acts. ?? The' princi
pal .. relief measures were:— The' abolition
of- the existing provisions. o£. the law that
retrospective reassessment, on, departmen
tal valuations -may be made for a period
of two years; replacement of the power
of the. department to make a variation in
valuations each_year by a requirement to
adhere to valuations for .a period of. .three
years; - the' extension ? of the powers . of
the Hardship. Board to grant relief . in
respect of land used for ? primary- produc
tion when the working .of the land had re
sulted in a loss in the year for which1, the
tax was levied; the exemption from taxa
tion of lands owned and used by sports
clubs except racecourses; relief to com
pany . shareholders and elimination' of un
profitable administrative work ;by 'an al
teration in -the provisions , of, the
Act ? so ? as to . render it. unneces
scary for . the -department ? :to
include . any -interest of a shareholder in
the unimproved value of the'lands of the
company if it did not amount to £100;
or when, the aggregate of interests of £100
or over was less than £500, and, finally,
the creation of ? a valuation board or
boards for the reviewing of departmental
valuations objected to by taxpayers. ?
? ? . ? Details 'of the Relief. .
Regarding1. the abolition of. retrospective
reassessments on departmental valuations,
the .'land.- tax: branch, of .the department
had existed: for 17 years, and much valu
able information ' regarding Jand . values
had beeni collected.. The. collection of data
was constantly proceeding, as land sales
took v place... ? The . retrospective:' reassess '
merit of -land had always left landowners
in a -state, of uncertainty -r-garding their
liability to taxation; and had seriously in
tercfered with the adiustment of sales and
transfers of land. It was considered that
the time had arrived .for the abolition ot
retrospective reassessments of this - kind.
In connegtiqh with.'a-hat might be. called
trennial' revaluation of land, the Bill also
provided that, Bpeasiug generally, land
salues should be ' .maintained without
iltfiration.for:.a~i|eriod of three years for
purposes ok taxation. There, were certain
heceasary limitstionsfto^this arrangement.
l°he limitations were expressed in clause
14 of the Bill. : .
A substantial alteration ? was proposed
:n the. provisions relating' to the inclusion
in the personal assessments of company
3harehdWers'- of* their ant'ereat 'in the un
improved f'alue-ot the lands of companies
af which ihey were shareholders- In.prac=
tice the- department/ had found on. the
iverage: that.it Was not economical to deel
with any share .interest in :a company
which repre&nted ' an unimproved value
less than' -£100; '.aiid therefore, in -order
to save money, the Commissioner in
structed-, his officers to omit from an as
sessment any such interest. This arrange
ment had been found. to be advantageous
by materially assistinc , in keeping down
staff requirements.' There had not been
any -loss to the Cbmmonwealth .thereby.
The 'Government considered: that- a further
Btepin-this direction was now possible,
namely- to exclude from shareholders per .
3onal assessments any. aggregation of in
terest which.- was less than ±500, and for
the' purpose of that aggregation to treat
my interest which was less than £100 as
aon-existent. This means that. only those
interests which' were £100 and over
would .be aggregated, and if that aggre
gation, was less .than £500. it would not
be included in the shareholder's assess
ment. ? If a shareholder had an interest
in the company only, and his interest m
the company's land , was less than . iaw.
it would not be included' hi his assessment.
Appointment- of a Valuation Authority.
' ^An important ? feature waB the provi
sion 'for' the constitution, of Valuation
Boards having power to review the value
assigned by the department to any land in
an' assessment against which the taxpayer
had objected. on. the ground that the value
was excessive. A board would consist
of~a' Chairman', appointed for a period not
exceeding seven years as migHt be found
convenient, with . two assisting members.
It was proposed' to commence with one
board for the* whole, of the Common
wealth, because: experience had shown that
in the vast majority of cases, the de
partment and the taxpayer came to agree
ment as., to the valuations, to be/used in
the disputed assessments. If the. work of
reference should increase to such propor
tions as to necessitate the. creation of an
additional board or additional boards, that
course, might be taken. The members of
the board, 'other than the Chairman,
would consist, of one member representing
the Commissioner .of. Taxation, and the
other member, representing land owners
of the class concerned in the particular
reference to the- board.
; The Valuation.. Board, would deal with
land values only. In cases which were
referred' to it, its decision. on questions
of - fact dealt with by it would be final,
xmless the decision was associated with
some question of law which the Court
might subsequently decide in- snch a way
as to .react, upon, the value determined by
the board..'. In- such., a case/ the Court
wonldhave power to vary the valuation
arrived at by the board.
; : ? - . Exempted Lands.
The Bill would exempt all lands owned
by or in trust for any club -or body of
persons, and used primarily and princi
pally 'for the purpose of games and ath
letic exercises among individuals and not
used for the pecuniary profit of the mem
Ders of the club or body. .Racecourses
irere not covered by this exemption. It
ras considered proper that land tax should
lot be charged on sporta grounds. In
itead of these being broken up by force
)f the weight of ;landtax onHhem^itrwas
:he tendency of modern city planning to
ncrense their numbers and areas. The
)resent tax collected from these associa
;ions was extremely, small, but it repre
lented substantial burdens on the mem
bers' of the clubs and associations ' con
:erncd, which it was desirable to remove.
The provisions of the hardship clause of
he Act were being ? enlarged. (1) To
luthorize the Relief Board to remit land
ax payable in respect of any particular
and used for primary production when
hat use had. resulted in' a loss 'during
he year of assessment; (2) to provide for
lubstitute members of the Relief Board
«ing appointed by the Treasurer as occa
iion required owing to the1 altered condi
;ions arising from the transfer of the
;eat of Government froni Melbourne to
Canberra and the .necessity for the Com
nissioner of . Taxation to be absent fre
luently from Melbourne on visits to the
various States of the Commonwealth; (3)
0 provide that applications for relief
rom tax of £500 and over should be re
erred for preliminary investigation and
liscussion with the taxpayer to the in
lividual members of the Income Tax
Board of Review in similar manner to
reference to that 'board now made in
the ease of applications for relief from
income tax of £500 and over.' This .would
Enable the taxpayers to attend personally
before a member of the Income. Tax
Board - of Review and discuss their appli
cations. These references to the mem
bers of the Income Tax Board' of Review
in the ease of applications for relief from
income tax had been of great assistance
to both taxpayers and the Relief Board.
It was considered' that equal benefit
would result from the proposal to refer
applications ; for relief from land tax to
the members of the same board.
The remaining provisions of the Bill
were: — (a) Amendments designed to im
prove the methods by which the work
arising under the Act might be more ex
peditiously dealt' with by the substitu
tion of a position of Second Commis
sioner for that of Assistant Commissioner
and by setting out in the law the powers
snd functions which might be exercised
by the' Second Commissioner; (b) the
mactment of an improved working defi
nition of 'parcel of land;' (c) the altera
tion of the hour at which liability to
tax accrues from 'noon on June 30 to
midnight on June 30;' (d) an improved
method for the collection of the tax by
an alteration in the provisions relatinp
to the due date of payment of the tax;
(e) some machinery alterations relating
to production of returns, information, to
riayment by defaulters of fees for regis
tration of land-tax as a charge on land
and for removal of the charge, and to
penalties for minor breaches of the law
It was proposed that there should be
a definite statement in the law that the
second Commissioner might, subject to
certain necessary limitations, exercise thn
powers and functions of the Commissioner,
and that the provisions of the Act might
apply when the second .Commissioner wsa
dealing with a case in the same manner
as they applied when the Commissionar
was dealing with the case. The inclusion
in the Act of a more effective and
workable definition of : 'parcel of land''
than that which ig contained in the pre
sent Act. The departmental definition
3ow included in the Bill had worked most
satisfactorily in the past. It was desirable,
however, to give legislative authority to it.
Fhe Bill altered the provisions of the law
relating to the due date of payment of
the tax. The period of 60 days allowed
'or payment of tax without penalty waa
being adhered to, but the necessity for
the Governor-General to proclaim a duo
Jate waa being abolished. It waa proposed
that in future the due date for payment
should be 30 days after the sen-ice by
post of the notice of assessment. It was
not intended to call upon landowners for
payment of tsx at any earlier date than
it present. The issue of notices would
be commenced as formerly in the month
if March, and the notices would be issued
in batches as they were prepared. The
Bill would provide for power to impose
1 penalty for late payment of tax
isscfsed on amended =*£essments. This
power did not exist at present. Statutory
authority to the Commissioner to extend
time for payment of tax was beini; given.
The machinery alterations referred to
Mnsist of: — Power to the Commissioner
it any time to call for a return of land
jwned by any person whether a taxpayer
ir not. The ebject of this amendment
was to secure power to penalize a tax
payer, who had failed to lodge his return
oy the ordinary due date, August 31 each
j'car. and who did not render a return
until called upon by the 'department to
lo so. The Bill contained similar j-enalty
provisions to tnose contained in tlia Iri
x-me Tax Assessment Act for what miprht
be called minor breaches of the law. such
is failure to lodge returns, to supply n
iormation, to attend and give evidence
when called upon, and omission of taxable
land from returns.
The debate on the Bill was adjourned.
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