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    1042 THf LEADER. [Saturday

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    Taxation Reduced To Unity And Simplicity...

    each individual in proportion to his property in the town list . Here are all needful securities for fairness m the repartition : — Choice of the valuers by the persons to be assessed . A definite rule of assessment . Publicity of proceedings . Full social and legal security in opposing inaccuracy or wrong ' . The practical defects of the New York system are probably less than those of any other in known operation ; and they are nearly all to be traced to what we deem errors relative to the objects of taxation—none of them to the principle of repartition .

    With these guarantees the system of repartition evidently tends , as is found in America , to equality and fairness ; for since every county , town , and person knows that a given sum is to be raised , everybody knows , as a consequence , that an unfairly small assessment in one place produces an unfairly great one in some other . The mutual pressure of equal interests under equal circumstances ^ promotes justice in the result ; and if there be reason for dissatisfaction , the facts duly proved by each for his own case afford a

    basis for right to all the rest . The system requires not absolute correctness , but uniformity of treatment ; and while the true and far most expedient rule of valuation would be in general the selling value of the property , it would not affect the issue if the whole were taken at half or double of its real worth , provided all were valued by the same rule . This equality of treatment nothing could promote more powerfully than the publicity , comparison , and freedom of discussion , which in England could not be separated from the

    system . Tlie following arrangements , suggested as suitable to our own circumstances , borrow some of their chief features from the system of New York . The only use of such a suggestion here is to show , by an example , that it could not be difficult to devise and carry into effect a working system on this basis , and not at all to say that the details here proposed are essential to the due working of the principle . As in the American plan , Parliament would determine by a given day the sum to be raised for the year : it might also , at a further stage of the proceedings , ratify by its authorization the rate per cent , of the year ' s tax .

    The system for effecting the valuation for assessment would consist of two parts , acting with each other concurrently : one of them , emanating from the tax-payers , would lie charged with the active duties of the valuation ; the other , appointed by the Crown , would have the general oversight , together with a right of interference in case of gross inequality , injustice , or evasion . The assessors , or rather valuers ( for the assessment follows some time after the valuation ) , would be chosen on ji certain day all over the kingdom , so fixed as to allow t lie valuation to be completed by the time that the cross . sum to bo raised was determined by

    Parliament . Three valuers would be chosen by each town ot perhiip . s 15000 inhabitants or loss , and in larger parishes three more for each additional 3000 persons . Two serve in their own parish , and the third , by lot , in some other piirish in the district . To these valuers—two being resident jind one a stranger—would be committed the formation of the lists of values ; and these lists , when completed , would be exposed to public examination jit iixed places , and for a specified time . 'When finally adjusted they would he transmitted to the Crown officer of ( he district ; any person feeling himself aggrieved forwarding a complaint and proofs at the same time .

    Tlie ( h-own officer of this district would form and publish a list of tlie separate totals of the parish lists , which a meeting of" all the valuers « of the district find of the 0 rown officer would examine . If no inequality appeared , the list would be confirmed : if correction were needed it would l > e made by vote of the whole , under the check of a veto by the Crown officer suspending a Hiirclmrge during investigation by independent jmrficH- A urn-charge on ; i parish from which no wellsupported complaint of internal inequality hud born received would dike effect ruteably on all values within tho parish .

    A meeting in London of the chief revenue ; ollicers of tjic Crow » , and of the chairmen of districts , would in like manner revise and pass tint general list lor the Unitoil Kingdom . A surcharges if rendered needful in any < : nse by proved inequality , uh compared with the rest of thi ) kingdom , would puss to tho district , to the parishes , and , eventually , to each separate value . On certification to the Treasury of tho taxable valui ) for tho year , tho assessment would everywhere tnko pluco in tho ratio to the individual values , which the sum to bit niised might bear to the total value of

    the property to bo taxed . The oiliccrs of tho Crown , instead of being , as now ,

    the actual exactors , would usually fulfil the duties of impartial witnesses . It would be their duty to partioi * pate in all proceedings , and if fairness did not prevail in the ordinary course of the business , it would be for them to secure it by the responsible exercise of their veto . All records and lists would be easily accessible to parties interested j more especially the proposed lists for the year would be open for fixed periods in every parish and district . Any person deeming himself aggrieved , whether by too heavy a valuation on himself , or by one too light on any other , would be entitled to complain , with offer of proofs , to the assessor , or to the local officer of the Crown .

    The rule of valuation should be , as in New York , the value which would be allowed for the property in payment of a bond fide debt ^—that is , the fair market value at the time . The valuation being chiefly in the hands of residents , would have the aid of local knowledge , while the presence of a person from another parish would promote not only impartiality as between individuals , but uniformity of valuation as between parishes . Possibly , in some cases , a parish might prefer being valued by a Crown officer ; a request to which there could Jt > % . objection . Facility of valuation could not bt ^ tfflfflow from the objects of taxation being commonly o | f ? efertam existence , and of a definite character . Neitiprabstepct rights , whether present or deferred , nor tne fluctuating products of skill and

    industry , nor the doubtfuf results of complex and evervarying transactions , nor the suspected profit of some surmised advantages , would form any part of the matters to be examined , The simple question would be , the present value of some object or group of objects which can be exactly specified and marked out ; and for much the greater part of the total national value , these must be of such a nature that sufficient judges of their worth would not be wanting . The means of valuation would be augmented by the deeds , contracts , invoices , or other documents produced by the individual , or required if needful by the valuers . A voluntary statement by the individual , if satisfactory to the yaluers , would save further proceedings , especially if it were accompanied by sufficient proofs .

    Two cases present themselves as perhaps the most difficult to be dealt with . The first is the class of objects not readily susceptible of an ordinary appraisement for sale , as , for instance , a mansion extraordinarily sumptuous in its character , a country residence in a situation valuable only from the associations of the owner , works of art of the first class , or unusual machinery . But even in the most extreme of these cases there are commonly recent transactions relating to like objects which will furnish a sufficient guide . Nor could any probable amount of error in regard to this small section of the whole property of the nation , produce any serious effect on the general distribution of the public burthens .

    The second class of objects more difficult than others to be valued , consists of fluctuating stocks . These would require to be taken at an average . Tradesmen in general can toll , and ought always to be able to tell , within the necessary limits of accuracy , both the value of their stocks and the ordinary variations of their amount . A few cases of actual sale , or valuation of stocks , such as are commonly taking place , would test sufficiently the returns made by individuals . Those remarks apply very much also to fluctuating stocks in the hands of Dock Companies and Carriers . The Assessors and other officers engaged in tho management of the Income Tax , attribute much force in favour of the revenue to the various motives which

    lead many persons to put the best appearance on their circumstances ; this consideration , whatever may be its real weight , applies at least as much to tho proposed tax a « to that on income . The motive to misrepresentation as to value is much diminished by the plan now proposed . The evasion ol a tax of om ; per cent , ( and in time , probably , of less ) odors little chance of gain . Twenty per cent ., more or less , in the value of a liou . se or a tradesman ' s stock , would in most cases involve a dill ' erenco in tho tux too small to weigh materially with tlie tax-payer ; often , indeed , he would prefer a valuation which , at ho small ii sacrifice , might tend to sustain his position in the eyes of his neighbours and connexions .

    In respect of tho greater part of tho property to bo taxed , other relations exist with their consequent obligations , tho transactions connected with which niayofton supply indubitable , or at least highly probable ; evidence of value . Assessments to poor-rates , insurances , wills , mortgages , in short ,, any fact or transaction which is not of a mil , uro to bo secret , or which is already published , whether voluntarily or by operation of law , may serve the purposes of all reasonable correctness . M . Kni ' ilc ! do ( iinirdin proposes to carry this principle so fur in Kranee as to make tho ( jlovorinnent the great Insurance Office of tho country , and to combine tho

    premium for insurance with the tax j he hopes th bring into operation a strong motive to the makin » of fair returns . We think this device altogether gnL ? fluous in England , and objectionable moreover on tout ciple , points we must discuss in our notice of the v valuable work in which the ( suggestion is found . ^ Failing all , however , whether from neglect or recu sancy , the ultimate step would be an actual valuation without appeal , by authority of the Crown officer and of this measure none could complain since they would have ample means of avoiding it .

    Even , however , in these less easy applications of ouj principle , wMch affect but a small part of the entire taxation , the difficulty is not so great as in the main staple of affairs in any existing system . Assessment U not always easy in indirect taxation ; hut even if it were so , collection is proportionatel y difficult , as witness our army of custom-house officers and excisemen : and with respect to direct taxation as at present managed it is evident that the Income Tax in England and the

    Personal Property Tax in New York both rel y mainl y for assessment on the statements of the individuals assessed ( statements just as available for this system and more likely to be correct ); and where it is desired to go beyond that , the valuation is of matters in respect of which it is infinitely less susceptible of accuracy than . in the worst of the cases we have suggested , or which , we suppose can occur under the proposed system . Here the worst that can come is an actual and conclusive

    valuation . But further ; to facilitate comparison with the values of other parishes or districts , the values in each would he distributed under several heads , as , for instance , land , dwelling houses , buildings , household furniture , farming stock , stock in trade , machinery . These , together with the standing elements of area and population , would soon lead to detection of any considerable ; wrong , and in a few years the corrections suggested by these comparisons would establish a list correct to all practical purposes as between different parishes or districts , and requiring readjustment only as new elements

    of wealth became notorious .- If a district were thus made to stand fair with the kingdom in general , each of its constituent parishes must bear on the average its share of the burden , and in a short time most probably its true share ; and if a parish had its true share , no individual could long shuffle off much of his rightful quota . A system like this , if proposed in reference to income , or even to what a man is worth , would be justly and generally opposed . The inquisitorial character of our income tax is much complained of ; and it is said now , as it was said under the former income tax , that

    private affairs are sometimes revealed from official quarters . Much greater , we suppose , would be tho dissatisfaction if all the circumstances relating to a man ' s income were to be scrutinized by his near neighbours . The tax on personal property , in New York , is open to the same objection ; for it is founded not on property actually in possession , but on what each man is worth , the whole of his affairs , however private , being taken into account . The proposed tax avoids this difficulty , and so admits of the stringency , where needful , of the

    of an assessment founded on exact knowledge facts . Dealing only with visible and tang ible objects , it asks , Whose is this P What is it worth ? And there its inquisition ends . Tho affairs of every man , in their totality and effect , are as much his own secret as ever . Such inquiries relating exclusively to objects of winch , from their nature , many persons must have knowledgo besides their owners , are surely tho least inquisitor ^ of any measures which have been proposed for tho purof national taxation ;

    poses . . Our remarks have been confined to assessment , tor that part of tho subject required full consideration ; collection , if assessment be once well done , so nine" " sembles , in tho case of taxes , what takes p lace in many other cascH , that it cannot bo necessury to discus " The cost of assessment and collection could scarce y bo greater for this than for tho present income u ^ for while a much greater number of small sums w

    come into account , those already entering into tli * ^ come tax would in , every case bo much increase ' , ^ so cost proportionally loss in management . ' ^^ of assessing iind collecting the income tiuc i * li . ^ 21 . 5 . v . <) d . per cent . ( Report of Income Taa > Co » ^ tent , Pressly , 345 ) ; that of assessing and collect" ^ chief items ' of our present revenue i « u « f » lloWH : ~ " ~ Amount Cost ; ,. « o « f-

    . nu """"" . » i Cifltomii £ 22 , 107 , 075 X 5 1 | Hid * . 1 B ' * '* S J 4 01 Mumps 0 , 520 , 04 . 0 * Taxoa—land , anatwHed , and ^ § \ $ \ inoomi ) 0 , 230 , . J . jJ ^ " ^ ________ Total and avorago . . £ 53 , 360 , 877 &• ^ The total coat of collection of tho above , is 2 , 5 'J >

    1042 Thf Leader. [Saturday

    1042 THf LEADER . [ Saturday

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 30, 1852, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_30101852/page/14/