A SIMPLE PROGRESSIVE TAX. 203 
A SIMPLE PROGRESSIVE TAX, anp ITs BHARING 
ON THE FEDERAL INCOME TAX and OTHER AOTS. 
By H. S. CARSLAW, M.A., Se.D. 
[Read before the Royal Society of N.S. Wales, July 3, 1918.] 
§ 1. The simplest form of tax is, of course, that in which 
the rate is constant: e.g., 6d. in the £, whether the sum 
on which the tax is levied be large or small. 
Next comes a sliding scale of which the following may 
be taken as an example: 
On the first £500, the rate shall be 6d. per £. 
On the second £500, the rate shall be 7d. per £. 
On the third £500, the rate shall be 8d. per £. 
On the fourth £500, the rate shall be 9d. per £. 
And ever pound over £2000, shall pay 94d. 
In a case such as this, it is obviously more equitable that 
the larger rates should be levied only on the successive 
parts of the income, and not on the whole. If the latter 
alternative had been adopted above, an income of £500? 
would pay five hundred six-pences, and an income of £501 
would pay five hundred and one times sevenpence. 
In other words, the extra pound of income would pay 
£2 2s. 3d., instead of 7d. 
Curiously enough, in Great Britain, the Income Tax is 
calculated in this way.” Throughout Australia the differ- 
ent States—with the exception of Western Australia, of 
* When reference is made to income, the taxable income is understood; 
i.e. the sum on which the tax is levied. 
2 A slight modification has now been introduced at the critical points. 
a 
