344
PUBLIC
RECORD OFFICE
༄༅། ། ། །
Reference :-
C.O.882/12
| Ally WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE
[BF REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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more favourable treatment under a Custoins tariff than the ordinary light wines which they are designed to imitate, and we consider that an ad valorem duty of 100 per cent. on the dried fruits which form the deceptive element in their ingredients would not be excessive. This duty would do something towards equalizing conditions of competition, but we suggest that the revenue authorities might consider the desirability of bringing the local compounds within the direct range of excise control. We estimate the gain to the revenue from this duty at Rs.5,000 which with the increases pro- posed on tobacco, silk, and perfumery, respectively, makes a total estimated increase of Rs.240,000 per annum from imports. The enhancements should be made at once in order to obtain the addi- tional income from January, 1932.
Export duties.
22. In view of the fact that the deficit to be met is in part made up of the existing export duty on sugar which we propose should be remitted for the present financial year (chapter XV), it is obvious that no question of a further duty arises. The export trade in aloe fibre is equally unable under existing circumstances to bear any increase of duty.
Excise duty on rum.
From what we have already said on the subject of the midence of this duty it will be apparent that we regard any increase in its amount as outside the range of discussion. The extent to which the Colony's budget is made to depend upon the rum-drinking habits of the poorest classes of the population cannot but be regarded as u very serious blot upon its financial system. There is no suggestion that the tax is imposed in the interests of temperance. It is wholly a revenue tax, operating as a surcharge on the income of the poor, who are already subject to every other form of taxation affecting other classes. If it were desired to reduce the consumption of rum this could easily be effected by restricting by one half the issues from the Government's warehouse. The growth of illicit distillation which might result from this action could not make good the amount of the restriction. If the number of licences for retail sale were also reduced, a low maximum of alcoholic strength imposed and a low maximum fixed for retail prices, the profits both from licit and illicit manufacture could not fail to diminish, and the revenue from rum consumption would sink to a figure more in keeping with the rest of the budget.
So long as the tax is maintained at its present rate and under present conditions there is no reason to think that the admitted progressive increase in the rum-drinking habit of the labouring classes will not continue, and to the evils of their physical and moral deterioration is being added that of their impoverishment by the State.
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Excise duty on tobacco.
For the reasons which we have explained in proposing an increase in the rates of Customs duty on manufactured tobacco and cigarettes, we do not think that any countervailing increases in Excise duty should be imposed.
Licences.
23. These licences are for the most part trading or occupational licences and cover nearly every possible form of trade or calling. They apply therefore to every section of the population and may be regarded as forming a rough and ready substitute for an income-tax. The Royal Commission of 1909 regarded them with disfavour and recommended their gradual reduction and eventual abolition, us tending in the case of the smaller licences to the encouragement of udleness, and as being generally incapable of equitable adjustment between occupations of different earning capacity or as between the successful and unsuccessful in the same occupation. We share these objections, but the circumstances of the present time do not allow of our following our predecessors to the whole length of their recom- mendations. We consider however, that the present situation offers a suitable opportunity of bringing certain of the larger licentes more into scale, and we propose that they should be increased as follows:
Licenser.
Companies registered under
Companies Ordinances.
Insurance Agency
Manufacturer of Wine
Dock Owner
Wholesale Dealer in Liquor ... Holder Wholesale
of
and Retail consolidated Licence. Merchant Distiller
Banker
Number of half- year licences issued.
Present Amount half-yearly to which amount of increase
licence. proposéd.
Additional
revenue estimated
from
increase.
It's.
It's.
K's.
403
75
300
90,875
99
150
500
34,650
2
250
1,000
1,500
6
250
1,000
4.500
5
300
1,000
3,500
82
400
1,000
49,200
68
500
1,000
34,000
8
500
5,000
36,000
8
1,000
5,000
32,000
Total Rs. 286,025
We recommend also that the small licence of Rs.2 for the possession of a gun should be raised to Rs.10, which on the number of these licences for the year 1930-31 should produce an additional revenue of Rs. 19,848 bringing the total estimated yield from the whole of the increase proposed to Rs.305,873.
These increases should be made immediately, in order to obtain six months' income at the enhanced rate in 1931-32.
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Private notes are available after approval.