CO885-(11-12) — Page 418

192

193

Rs.

On the above basis of expenditure the contributions to general and local taxation would be (approximately) :-

The taxation on this basis would be:

-

Rs.

Tenant tax (4 per cent. of rent).

24

Dog licence

1

Tenant tax (4 per cent. of rent)

19

Import duty on food (say 10 per cent. on three-

fourths of total expenditure)

Import duty on food (10 per cent. on three-

fourths total expenditure)

114

83

Import duty on clothes, etc. (at 12 per cent. on

materials used)

Import duty on clothing, etc. (at 12 per cent. on

imported materials used)

48

16

Tobacco duty

36

Tobacco duty

26

Total

223

Total

144

340

This is the maximum estimate. A family of this class are not rum consumers, and the item of Rs.26 for tobacco duty assumes a consumption of 50 cigarettes per week. The average rate of 10 per cent. taken for importy duty on food is a liberal calculation having regard to the actual rates on such staple articles as rice (4) per cent.), flour (63 per cent.), edible oils (10 per cent.), coffee (14 per cent.), and tea (28 per cent.), the total expenditure on coffee and tea being likely to be small in proportion to that on the more lightly dutiable articles.

12. The family budget statement furnished for the Civil Servant (aged 48), married, with 4 children, and on a salary of Rs.4,000 per annuin, was as follows :—

Cook

Ꭱs .

Contribution to Widows' and Orphans' Fund Rent Rs.50 per month

160

600

Railway or bus fares

144

Servants :

Rs. per month.

15

Boy

6

Washerman

12

33

396

Food and petty household expenses including

water and light

1,520

Education of children

420

Clothes, etc. ...

520

Doctors' and Chemists' bills

60

Sundries

180

Total

4,000

It will be observed that while the taxpayer on Rs.2,400 pays a considerably lower percentage of his income (6 per cent.) in taxa- tion than the agricultural labourer, his percentage is slightly more than that of the taxpayer with an income of Rs.4,000:

In the case of tradesmen, shopkeepers, etc., the amount of taxa- tion paid would include an occupational licence within the limit of Rs.10 to Rs.100. It may be argued that a tax of this description is passed on to the general community in the form of a propor- tionate increase in retail prices or in the cost of services rendered by the licensee. This may be the case with the consolidated re- tailer paying an annual licence duty of Rs.500, but in most cases the amount of the licence is too small in relation to the number of transactions which it covers to be passed on in this way. An itinerant hawker paying a licence of R.1 per annyin or a retail grocer paying a licence of Rs.30 would have considerable difficulty in distributing the amount of the licence in a propor- Still less can an tionate addition to the price of each article. attorney-at-law or a doctor effect this adjustment with a licence of Rs.150, a dock owner with a licence of Rs.500, a firm of export merchants with a licence of Rs.1,000, or a banker with a licence of Rs.2,000. The cost of the article or service will in each case tend to the same round figure in cents or rupees as that at which it would stand if the licence had not been imposed or were removed. We have treated the incidence of these charges, there- fore, as resting on the licensee, a method which has the further justification that they are generally regarded by the licensee as paid by himself, and that they are roughly--much too roughly-- graduated according to the economic status of his calling.

Assuming the addition of a licence of Rs.50 to the shopkeeper with an income of Rs.2,400, and an addition of Rs.100 to that of the shopkeeper with an income of Rs.4,000, the total taxation figures are raised to Rs.194 and Rs.323, representing a percentage of 8 per cent. of the total income in each case, as compared with the agricultural or general labourers' percentage of 11 per cent.

or more.

13271

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

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Reference :-

C.O.882/12

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON