8.—6

XVIII

Land-tax. The land-tax receipts for the financial year 1914-15 exceeded the estimate by £4,641, and, compared with those for 1913-14, are as follow :— £ Receipts, 1914-15.. .. .. •■ ..799,641 Receipts, 1913-14.. .. .. .. •• 767,451 An increase of .. .. •• £32,190 The following figures show the increases in the net assessed taxable value of land and mortgages, the yield of land-tax, and the number of taxpayers, as compared with last year:— Taxable Value. Yield. Tuyere. £ £ 1914-15 .. .. 149,683,776 799,640 44,270 1913-14 .. .. 140,448,406. 767,451 40,889 Increases .. £9,235,370 £32,189 3,381 Graduated Land-tax. The comparison between the number of payers of graduated land-tax and the amounts assessed for 1913-14 and 1914-15 is as follows: — Amount Number of assessed. Taxpayers. £ 1914-15 .. .. .. .. 87,279,699 6,738 1913-14 .. .. .. .. 84,185,276 6,148 Increases .'. .. £3,094,423 590 Income-tax. The receipts for 1914-15 as compared with 1913-14 are as follows:— £ 1914-15 .. .. .. .. .. .. 540,318 1913-14 .. .. .. .. .. .. 554.271 A decrease of.. .. .. .. £13,953 This decrease can be set down to two causes, the chief one being the strike, which materially disorganized the commercial industries of the Dominion, while the additional exemption granted in respect of children under the age of sixteen years is the other and lesser cause. The following figures show a comparison of the net assessed income, the yield of income-tax, and the number of taxpayers for the past two years :— Net Assessed Net Assessed Number Income including Income without Tax. of Exemptions. Exemptions. Taxpayers. £ £ £ 1913-14 .. 14,430,779 10,349,179 554,271 14,277 1914-15 .. 13,850,261 9,959,701 540,318 13,967 Decrease £580,518 £389,478 £13,953 310 POST AND TELEGRAPH DEPARTMENT. The Post and Telegraph Department has closed another year with excellent results. The revenue received during the year amounted to £1,353,443, exceeding that of the previous year by £95,906. The Savings-bank deposits reached a total of £11,904,323, and the withdrawals £10,603,018, while the amount standing to the credit of depositors was £19,048,029 —an increase of £1,916,615. The money-order and postal-note business continues to show a steady increase, the total. value of issues and sales respectively during the year reaching over £4,090,000.