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PUBLIC
PECORD OFFICE
། །། ། །
Reference-
C.O.882/12
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE. LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BF REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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The above items are self-explanatory with the exception of (1) Licences, (2) Taxes on vehicles and animals, (3) House tax, and (4) Registration fees, which require some fuller information.
Licences.-These are trading and professional licences, ranging from R.1 per annum in the case of the humblest classes of workers (itinerant fishmongers, hawkers, hairdressers, etc.), to Rs.2,000 for bankers. Bookbinders and cabinet makers pay Rs.10, black- smiths, butchers, shoemakers, etc., Rs.20, booksellers and photo- graphers Rs.30, shopkeepers from Rs.20 to Rs.100, attorneys and doctors Rs.150, refreshment dealers Rs.300, dock owners and wholesale dealers Rs.500, hotel-keepers (with the right to sell intoxicants) Rs.800, distillers and export merchants Rs.1,000, and bill brokers Rs.330 to Rs.1,200 according to the value of the bills dealt with during the year.
Taxes on vehicles and animals.-This is a tax levied on all road animals and vehicles, including motor cars, lorries, carts, carriages. etc., horses, mules, draught oxen, and dogs, a rates ranging from Rs.2 per annuin in the case of a dog, Rs.3.50 for an ox, Rs.4.50 for a horse, Rs.60 for a motor car not exceeding 12 horse power up to Rs.5 per horse power plus Rs.40 per metric ton in the case of motor lorries. Animals and vehicles used solely upon sugar estates and owned by the proprietor of the estate are exempt from this tax.
House tax. This tax is charged at the flat rate of R.1. per habitable room, subject to a maximum of Rs.3 per house, on all houses of a capital value of not more than Rs.500, and at 1 per cent. of the capital value on all houses of a greater capital value than Rs.500. The assessment of the capital value is usually fixed at twelve times the rental value of the house. House tax is not levied in the urban area of Port Louis or in the townships of Cure- pipe. Quatre Bornes, Beau Bassin, and Rose Hill, but a similar levy is made by the local authority for its own administration.
Registration fees.-Particulars of the nature of these fees and of the documents chargeable thereto are given in the section of the report dealing with the Registrar General's Department (see chapter III). Of the total amount of fees estimated for the year 1930-31 Rs.450.000 represents Succession Duty.
System of Local Taxation,
7. The system of local administration in the Colony is still in a very rudimentary stage of development. There is only one elected local body, viz., the Municipality of Port Louis. The three considerable townships of Curepipe, Beau Bassin and Rose Hill, and Quatre Bornes are administered locally by Boards of Commissioners nominated by the Governor, and the rural area of the island is divided into districts, each with a nominated Dis- trict Board. The services entrusted to the local administration
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In
vary to some extent but in the case of the townships include generally the upkeep and lighting of streets, scavenging, and the control of markets, abattoirs, fire brigades, and cemeteries. the case of the Municipality of Port Louis the maintenance of streets and the scavenging service have been taken over temporarily by the Government. The District Boards are responsible for the maintenance and improvement of branch roads, footpaths, and water supplies, but not for the cemeteries.
from-
The revenues of the Municipality of Port Louis are derived (1) A house rate on a graduated scale rising to 11 per cent. on all houses and real property within the town, chargeable on the owner of the property.
(2) A tenant tax on a graduated scale between 1 per cent. and 6 per cent. on the property occupied.
(3) A charge for electric light supply.
(4) Water-rate.
(5) A percentage of premiums on fire insurance policies on
properties in the town.
(6) Certain licences and permits.
(7) Market and slaughter house fees.
(8) Fines.
The revenues of the three townships are:-
(1) A house rate not exceeding 1 per cent. on houses and real property.
(2) A tenant tax as in the case of Port Louis.
(3) A yearly contribution from Government.
(4) Fines resulting from contraventions prosecuted by the Board.
(5) Percentage on fire insurance premiums.
(6) Fees for slaughter house, market, and cemetery. (7) Rents.
The District Boards have no local revenue except from water- rates but are paid a yearly contribution by the Government for the upkeep of the local services.
8. From this brief outline of the fiscal system of the Colony it is possible to form some estimate of the weight of taxation now borne by the different classes of the population, and to consider whether in respect of every class it can fairly be said that its taxable capacity has been already reached.
In the first place, it will have been observed that local taxation is to a large extent alternative rather than additional to general taxation. There is no real division of functions as between the Government and the local bodies in regard to matters of local administration, but only a territorial division for the exercise of the same functions. For illustration of this arrangement it will he noticed that the Government supplies water from its reservoir at
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