10
-
unsatisfactory as in Unit 1 (Profits Tax) where Assessors
25
are concerned, but the section suffered on the one hand from the
absence of an Assistant Commissioner in charge of Unit 2 to
whom the Assessor in charge could turn for advice and on the
other hand from a subordinate clerical staff inadequate to
deal with the routine of opening and handling over 8,000 files.
At the same time, the section was called upon to handle Personal Assessment (see below) in addition to its normal duties.
Some thousands of interviews were given to taxpayers and many
problems of a personal nature discussed, especially as regards
life assurance allowances. On the whole, considering the
inevitable delays consequent upon the preliminary work necessary
in the first year, I regard the assessment of Salaries and
Annuities Tax as reasonably up-to-date.
25. By 31st March it had not been possible to assess
Civil Servants generally, as owing to the delay in bringing
into force the recommendations of the Salaries Commission
and to their retrospective effect, the true income of many
Civil Servants for the year ended 31st March, 1947 was still
not known. The amount of revenue in arreabs on this account,
however, is not likely to be great owing to the wide difference
between emoluments of Civil Servants and those obtained in
commercial life. It is of interest to note that the average
amount of Salaries and Annuities Tax paid per individual by
such Civil Servants as have been assessed was one-fifth of
that paid by other assessed salary earners. The average
assessable income of such Civil Servants as became chargeable
to tax was $14,234 as against an average of $23,507 in other
cases.
Personal Assessment:
26. It is far too early in the history of the Department
to say with any certainty whether or not personal assessment
is likely to be popular. Up to 31st March, 1948 only in 626
cases of business assessments had any of the proprietors elected
to be personally assessed. An apparent apathy may be due to
one or more of several reasons: