Comparison of taxation with former years. NOTE. An export duty on gold existed from May 1855 to the end of 1867. The receipts from that source have not, for the purposes of this table, been considered as taxation. 236. It will be observed that a large increase took place in the gross 1880-1, amount produced by taxation in 1880-1, as compared with previous years. This amount was greater by £312,781 than in 1879-80, and by £106,862 than in 1873-4; the latter being the year in which the sum raised by taxation was next in amount to that in the year under review. The taxation per head was greater in 1880-1 than in any previous year since 1860, except 1867, 1872-3, and 1873-4; and the proportion of taxation to revenue was higher than in any year since 1875–6. Taxes repealed and imposed. 237. Of the increase of £313,000 in the total taxation 1880-1 as compared with the previous year, not less than £117,200 was derived from the operation of new imposts, viz., £84,400 from excise duties on beer and tobacco, and £32,800 being the increased amount yielded by stamp duties, first levied about the middle of the previous year;§ £82,400 was through accidental causes ;§ and about £100,000 was from increased Customs revenue, which is probably the deferred result of increasing the rates of duty in the previous year.] Numerous difficulties lie in the way of estimating the extent to which the various heads of revenue are affected by the imposition, increase, or reduction of taxes. An attempt has, however, been made to form such an estimate in the following table for the last six years, which, although giving necessarily imperfect results, will afford some idea of the direc According to the Treasurer's figures, made up whilst these pages were passing through the press, but not audited, the taxation in 1881-2 amounted to £2,317,706 or £2 12s. 8d. per head of the estimated mean population (880,280) of that financial year. For mean population of each year, see table following paragraph 199 ante. An increased duty on cigars, which is estimated to have realized £2,300, is not taken into account, as it is counterbalanced by a decrease in the revenue from tobacco, notwithstanding the increased rates levied on manufactured tobacco and snuff. See paragraphs 208 and 209 ante. § See paragraph 195 ante. If this be the case-which there is no means of verifying-this amount also should be considered as "newly imposed taxation." See paragraph 209 ante. tion and extent in which the burdens of the people have been added to or reduced during the period: TAXES REPEALED AND IMPOSED, 1875-6 TO 1880-1. tion Taxes Repealed or Reduced. Of this item no satisfactory estimate can be given. †This amount has been arbitrarily assumed to be the difference in the average annual revenue from those items on which the duty has been altered during the two years preceding and following the date of the alteration in the Tariff. See table following paragraph 208 ante. Duty on bank notes. Land tax. 238. The tax on bank notes was imposed under the Act 39 Vict. No. 526, which came into operation on the 1st January 1876. It is at the rate of £2 on every £100 of the average amount of notes circulated by any bank between the 1st July and the 30th June of each financial year. 239. The Act for imposing a land tax (41 Vict. No. 575) came into operation on the 28th August 1877. It provides that all estates over 640 acres in extent, valued at upwards of £2,500, whether consisting of one block or several blocks of land not more than five miles apart, shall be taxed at the rate of one and a quarter per cent. upon their capital value after deducting there from the sum of £2,500-only one exemption, however, being allowed in the case of a proprietor holding more than one estate. For the purpose of ascertaining the capital value, the estates in question are divided into four classes, the value being estimated according to the number of sheep they are able to carry, as follows: Value per Acre. Extent of land 240. The extent of land assessed under this Act amounted in 1881 assessed for to nearly seven million acres, nearly half of which was placed in the lowest class, more than a third in the third class, less than an eighth in the second class, and not quite a twentieth in the first class. land tax. Proportion of land assessed to total available and alienated land. Number of estates assessed. Average size of estates assessed. Proprietors 241. The land in Victoria suitable for occupation is estimated to amount to about 33,200,000 acres,* of which 19,800,000 acres either had been alienated in fee-simple or were in process of alienationt when the year commenced. The area assessed for land tax thus amounted to 21 per cent. of the available land in the colony, or to 35 per cent. of the area alienated or in process of alienation. 242. The number of estates assessed was 951. As some proprietors own more than one estate, their number is less than the number of estates, and is set down as 833. It is, however, actually less than this, as, whilst the returns show where the proprietor holds more than one estate in the same class, they do not distinguish cases of proprietors holding estates embraced in two or more classes. 243. The average size of all the estates assessed is 7,238 acres, which is slightly above the average of those in Class III. In Classes I. and II. the estates average between 3,000 and 4,000 acres, and in Class IV. nearly 13,000 acres. 244. The following table shows, for each class, the number and and size of area of estates assessed for land tax, the number of proprietors of such and number The land in process of alienation amounted to about 7,700,000 acres, on which, on the average, half the purchase-money had been paid. estates, and the average number of acres to each estate and to each proprietor: PROPRIETORS AND NUMBER AND SIZE OF ESTATES ASSESSED FOR LAND TAX. (According to the Returns of the Half-year ended 27th February 1882.) estates 245. The capital value of the estates, according to the valuation Valuation of prescribed by the Statute, is about twelve millions sterling; but, after assessed. deducting the exemptions allowed, viz., £2,500, from the value of the estate or estates of each proprietor, the net taxable value is reduced to less than ten millions sterling. It may be pointed out that, although it may perhaps have been necessary to fix arbitrarily a scale for valuing estates for purposes of taxation, yet there is no doubt that the taxable value so arrived at is, in most cases, very much below the actual value of the estate. estates of 246. The capital value of the estates in each class, according to their valuation of estimated carrying capacity, the value of the exemptions, and the net each class. taxable value after deducting these, and the proportion of the net taxable value to the capital value, are given in the following table :VALUE OF ESTATES ASSESSED FOR LAND TAX. (According to the Returns of the Half-year ended 27th February 1882.) land tax 247. The land tax payable varied from 94d. per acre in Class I. to Amount of 24d. per acre in Class IV., the average being about 44d. per acre; the payable. amount payable by each holder averaged £149, ranging from an average of £161 in Class III. to one of £127 in Class II.; and the amount * See paragraph 242 ante. payable for each estate averaged £131, and ranged from an average of £141 in Class III. to one of £116 in Class II. Subjoined is a statement of the total amount payable annually in respect to the estates of each class; also the average amount payable per acre, per holder, and per estate: LAND TAX PAYABLE ANNUALLY. (According to the Returns of the Half-year ended 27th February 1882.) Difference in class. Cost of administering Land Tax Act. Stamp duties. 248. It will be observed that, although the average amount payable per acre goes, as may be supposed, in regular succession, according to classes, the difference between the acreable payment by each class and its successor is very marked; thus, between Classes I. and II. it is about 24d.; between II. and III. about 24d.; and between III. and IV. about 24d. It will also be noticed that the amount paid on behalf of each estate in Class III. is about 7 per cent. more than that paid on behalf of those in Class IV., notwithstanding that the average area of each estate in the latter class is, as is shown in a previous table, about double that in the former. 249. The cost of administering the Land Tax Act during the year 1880-1 amounted to £1,621, as against £5,451 in the previous year. 250. Stamp duties were first imposed during the year 1879-80, under Act 43 Viet. No. 645, which came into force on the 18th December 1879. The following, in a condensed form, are the particulars of the duties levied thereunder, together with a list of the chief exemptions : STAMP DUTIES. I.-BILLS OF EXCHANGE AND PROMISSORY NOTES. Bills of Exchange, payable on demand, cheques, &c., each... ... £ s. d. 0 0 1 0 0 6 0 1 0 ... For every £25 or fraction thereof of the total value up to £100 III. CONVEYANCE ON SALE OF ANY REAL PROPERTY, APPLICATIONS, CONSENTS, For every £50 of consideration or fraction thereof after deducting the first £50 £ s. d. 050 |