MODERN CROESUS.

Auckland Star, Volume 55, Issue 12, 15 January 1924, Page 8

MODERN CROESUS.

TROUBLES OF THE VERY RICH.j POOR ON MILLIONS. The rich, like the poor, are always with us. And like the poor, they are increasing in numbers even in these hard times, though not quite at such a fast rate. According to the latest fig- ( ures issued by the Inland Revenue Com- I missioners there are 9834 people in Great Britain who received incomes of ' over £10,000 during the financial year, ; 1920-21. This is an increase of over I 1427 over the total for the previous ! year and a increase of 2589 over the • total for 1918-19. In 1911-12 the num- | her of those in receipt of over £10,000 a l year was only 4143, so it is evident that the war was not such a bad thing i for quite a number of people. | I The following tables gives the latest available details of the increases in the number of people drawing large incomes:— Incomes 101S-19. 1919-20. 1920-21 £10.000 to 1 15.000 8413 SOUS -*fi"o \ £1.-..000 lo £20.000 1397 1660 1940 i_o.ooo to iIEi.OOO 73". Mil OS2 j £25,000 to £30,000 301 5V.1 015 I £30.0110 to £40.000 439 381 6M • £-10,000 to £50.000 270 302 360 £50.000 to * 7.-1,000 257 279 345 £73.000 to fIOO.IXiO 103 H3 1_« Over £100,000 121 148 171. Totiils ' 7243 8407 0534 I The Inland Revenue Commissioners \ never take the public into their conn- ! deuce regarding the number of people I receiving incomes of £200,000 or over; they lump together all those who receive over £100,000. But the Commissioners do disclose that the aggregate incomes of the 171 persons who paid income tax on over £100,000 in 1020-21 [ was £33,498,379. Therefore, these for- , tunate 171 averaged etween them £195,896 during that year. But it would be more interesting to know how many of them have incomes of over £1000 a day, and whether any of them reach £500,000 a year. Over £100,000 a Year. It is interesting to note the con- [ stant increase in the number of people whose incomes exceed £100,000 a year. In 1911-12 the total was CO. but three years later it had reached 80. Next year two persons made their way into this select company. Then the industrial boom created by the war began to inflate the figures (in spite of the excess profits duty which took from 60 to 80 per cent of the huge profits earned i by industrial concerns) for. in . 1918-19 the number of persons who paid income tax on incomes in excess of £100,000 a year was 121. As the above table shows this figure was increased by 50 in the next two years. Nearly 5,000,000 people in Great Britain pay income tax and 90,000 of these pay super-tax which is levied on incomes in excess of £2000 a year. The standard rate of income tax which rose to 6/ during the war is now 4/0, but only half the standard rate is charged on the first £225 after allowance is made for exemptions. The ' super_tax is fixed on a sliding scale, ' the full rate of (5/ being charged only 'on incomes in excess of £32,000. A man ' in the fortunate position of having an income of over £32,000 a year has to pay more than half of it to the Treasury in' income tax and super-tax. A single man with £100,000 a year coming untler the head of "investment" '. income, as distinct from "earned" income, would have to pay the Treasury . £52,650. Before the war he would have had to pay only £8330. Tlie heavy increase in income tax which the war imposed has made many of the rich people in Great Britain relatively poor. The wealthy landed families arc no longer able to'livc in- the way to which they were accustomed l>cfore the war, anel to keep a town house and several costly mansions in the country.