The weekly North-Carolina standard., 1869-05-12
Opinions ofthe Pubic Treasure, :.

OPan1Ons OF the Pubic Treasurer
Revenue Law. " 'he
David A. jenkins, ESQ.,, Public T,o.
has delivered the following opinions aef
new revenue law: 'Ne
sTATEioF NORTH CAROLYN,
TREASURY DEpAKrMEsr
Ralsiga hay 5, 1864
VIM. NJ. BALDWIN, ESQ.,, Assessor. ''
Whiteville, N r
Yours of April Goth received and v:
to your question sesiatim. reply
!; The proviso of paragraph s. Ser :,
OF the Act to collect Revenue, &C. Il
press that no more than 5000 in bph,,sei q. .
any tag payer shall he exempted II OF
hundred Dollars worth of EARNS lor ~, 4TO
meaning apparel for the use of the ,Ss'ei, oH,
and his family, household and kitcbsn O"ner ~
niture, mechanical and agricultural IN. lGf'
ments of mechanics and farmers Ehple'
and scientific Instruments are eyomn. ''s
no more. Under this plainly 'arms for or, mnS una
ter and wearing appareln are Dart Of i4as' u.s.
5000 exemption. 'i Tue
.. Merchants pay tax in two ways. H.,
they pay an Gd valorem tax on their my nv
ty, no matter whether invested in maroI p,ypef'
disc or not, on hand 1st April. Secon@l Suual'
they pay for the privilege ofcarrvinao ioonTlyi ont
slncss as merchant, license tar eouaI on n"Q
fifth OF one per cent on the estimated oma' Dne
of purchases. The merchant mus, E"oul En.G
property to the Assessor. He must nav L:' As
license tax directly to the Sheriff and pd' us
count with him. The mode of doinn a a.
latter is pointed out in sec. Is, ScbedSS,a' 'le N
No merchant ought to complain of ~:
double mode of taxation. The tax on nnI ani'
chases is only one-ffth of one per c,.u ru'
which is far less than it was in 1SG0 wh,
it was one-half of one per cent. Il uonia "ia
be unconstitutional to exempt the n.n.hl "huu
from the property tax. He does not paT ON ON
his net income derived from merchandise
as the property from which it is derived,
taxed. So keepers of billiard tables 81
pay property tax on the tables, &c, and
a license tax for using them.
3. Under clause Z, section 10. all otho,
personal property is taxed. which isnot snp.
cially mentioned in the preceding paragra66
For example, billiard tables, playing card,
pistols, pleasure carriages, turpentine and
whiskey stills, not affixed to the soil, &C.
So merchandise of all kinds must he taxed
Gd gal0rem under this section, as it would
be unconstitutional to exempt merchandle
from the property tax. The tax on ''pur
chasesn in schedule B is license tax, and
is for the privilege of carrying on the bust
ness. l,e,jI,f, sr.-.r-..
4. In estimating income, that deriul
from property otherwise taxed cannot be e.
timated. Hence. farmers pay no incOu.
tax, unless they have income from oths
sources than their farms.
You desire some illustration of paragran
a. sec. /, class 2, of schedule A. Take tls
case of physician. He might deduct tbe
expense of keeping his horse, repairs OF his
buggy or other vehicle used in attendv
his patient, rent of his office, if he does MI
own it., hire of a servant, if necessary, to
take care of his horse, the average wear and
tear of his vehicle and team. He could not
deduct the cost OF his own food, or the hy.
pothetical value of his own time and labor
He is allowed $1,000 for family expenses, if
he expends that much, but no more From
the net income thus derived must be de.
dueted $500. (See sec. 8, page 21)
5. Lawyers are taxed on net income de-
rived from their profession. Those CON-
mencing practice for the first time pay SIS
for the privilege. They pay no other Ii.
cense tax. .a,
/; 6. I find no authority for Assessors re-
quiring list of credits, when the debts ez.
ceed the credits. If an Assessor suspects
that tax payer isunder estimating his cred
its, think he has right to cross examine
him in order to get at the truth, and ttg
make him mention what credits he has. But
you will notice, that The taxpayer, ;n- 7sa, i,
graph 5, section IL of the act to collect
Revenue, &C., is only bound to list the
amount of his credits-not each credit in
detail. That would, in many cases, be an
interminable job.
Very Respectfully,
d. A. JENKINS,
Public Treasurer.