100 FORESTRY IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



The Sub-Committee recommend the continuance of the advisory 

 system introduced in 1912 in England and in 1917 in Scotland, 

 by appointing officers to advise private proprietors on the manage- 

 ment of their woods. In Ireland the regular forest officers of the 

 Board of Agriculture have done similar work. The measure has 

 produced good results in the past in promoting a wider under- 

 standing of scientific forest management. 



11. Public Burdens resting on Woodlands. 



It is stated that woodlands may be subject to one or all of the 

 following burdens : — 



(a) Local rates. 



(6) Income tax, including super-tax. 



(c) Death and succession duties. 



{d) Excess profit tax. 



(e) Land tax, tithe rent and similar charges. 



(/) Special payments in respect of extraordinary traffic on 

 public roads. 



This is not the place to deal in detail with the different burdens ; 

 the following short notes will suffice. Some of the items, as 

 (c) and (d), are not peculiar to forestry, but apply to all sorts of 

 property, and they need not be considered here. Local rates and 

 land tax differ practically from place to place. Special payments 

 in respect of extraordinary traffic are altogether an unjust charge, 

 because woodlands pay taxes over the whole lifetime of the wood, 

 whether there is any traffic over public roads or not. By demand- 

 ing extra payment when the wood is cut over, the proprietor is 

 asked to pay road cess twice over. 



There is only one just method of assessing taxes on woodlands, 

 namely, to calculate the tax on the basis of the net income which 

 the woodland is capable of yielding. That basis should be 

 utilized for the assessment of both income tax and local rates. 

 Fortunately the Revenue Authorities have recognised the justice 

 of the method by allowing forest proprietors to be assessed under 

 Schedule D, which proprietors should do. Under this system an 

 account is kept of all outlay and income, the tax being calculated 

 from the difference of the two. The taxation under Schedule D. 

 has, however, drawbacks, as it now stands. A proprietor may 

 spend more money than is necessary, and the management may 



