ABSTRACT
This chapter first of all takes a factual look at the pattern of government revenue since 1900. It then goes on to consider the aims of a tax system and principles of taxation. Income tax has accounted for a quarter or more of total revenue since the 1930s, and in much of the post-war period for around 31". This tax is subject to almost annual changes, either as to the rates applied or to tax concessions granted. Purchase tax was first imposed in 1940, and is levied on certain goods, whether home-produced or imported. The two main sources of revenue, income tax and Customs and Excise, show only a small percentage change in the twenty-eight-year period from 1939 to 1967 in spite of a world war. A fiscal system serves various purposes besides the obvious one of providing revenue. Income tax and Custom and Excise duties each account for about 30" of government revenue.
