Evening star., 1932-05-23

time to time in an endeavor to balance
the federal budget"
w. G.. Jaffray, president the Globe,
Toronto, Canada, said:
The sales tax is less unpopular than
| income or stamp taxes because it
is hidden from the purchaser at re-
tail. Being levied at the first selling
source of the completed article, it in
wolves a certain amount of extra book
keeping and also frequently involves
some expense in carrying charges when
| the manufacturer cannot collect from
his customer for some time after he has
paid the tax. 1t is passed along, shown
| on the invoice as an added charge, thus
! usually becoming part Of the ultimate
price.
with experience and the knowledge
! that the government has to have the
money, the levy is now accepted with
relatively good grace. Its operation is
smooth. Its wide application has created
, a feeling that it is a national contr1-
button to unavoidable administrative
expenses"
]. r. Matson, publisher, the Colonist.
Victoria, British Columbia, said:
"Sales tax in Canada, now 6 per oent,
is popular neither with business inter-
ests nor public. 1t has tendency to
act in restraint of trade, as tax IS not
absorbed by producer or manufacturer,
but is passed on to consumer. 1t Is
applied both on goods produced in Can
ada and on imported goods on the duty
paid value. In latter case it acS as
additional tariff, although an internal
revenue tax. Collection is very eftec-
tive. since manufacturers and producers
themselves act as collectors, and but
little additional tax-collecting machinery
is required by government. The in
!, creased sales tax was effected this year
in preference to turnover tax, to which
the Canadian Manufacturers Associa-
ton objected strongly in view Of COM
plications in bookkeeping the latter
would cause The volume of revenue
collected under sales tax depends on
economic conditions. During past few
years results have been disappointing
to federal government"
Has Had Tax IL Years.
Roy w. Brown, editor, the Vancouver
Daily Province, Vancouver, British Co.
lumbia, said:
Canada has had sales tax, in one
form or another, for II years. As
Canada knows it, the sales tax Is a
manufacturers and importers excise
! tax 1t is levied on the manufacture
producer, importer, wholesaler or job
ber-whichever of these is first in the
chain to sell the commodity in its most
| highly finished state There is long
| list of exemptions, including agr1cul-
| tural products, and most foods, ana
| many raw materials and instruments
used in production. The sales taX does
| toll loo
| no article more than once.
THE merits of the sales tax are not
easy to assess. Its chief merit from
| the point of view of the government is
that the tax is productive. 1t used to
be estimated that the tax would yield
! sos, 100000 in Canada for each l per
cent levied. Owing to the slump In
business, however this estimate has
not proven reliable of late, and last
wear the per cent tax yielded only
| 500 900. The tax is also easily col
| lected. and as the machinery for its
collection has been working for years
now it works smoothly.
"On the other side. the tax has
various defects. 1t is levied at the same
| rate on rich and poor, and at the same
rate on the necessities the poor man
must buy as on the luXuries which the
rich man can buy or not, as he chooses.
This defect is partially modified in
Canada by the pretty general exemption
! of foodstuffs) The tax is passed on to
| the consumer, and, of course, Is pyra-
mided on the way.
No Volume Of Protest.
There has been no great volume OF
! protest against it. 1t is realized that the
Government must have revenue and the
sales tax is accepted as rather the best
way of getting it. A year ago, while
| the rate of the tax was still l per cent,
the federal government, needing addi-
tional revenue, flirted for time with
the idea CT imposing turnover tax in
stead. This, it was proposed, should be
at 2 per cent and should apply to all
transactions except, possibly, those oI
a retail nature. If an article passed
through the hands of say three manu-
facturers and a jobber and wholesaler
before reaching the retail merchant, 1t
would pay the turnover tax each time 1t
changed hands In a way, this tax
would be more easily estimated than
the other, as it could be levied on the
total of sales at the end Of the month.
It would, however, pyramid more rapid