Red Lodge picket. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1889-1907, 1895-04-13
A REVENUE PROBLEM
income Tax Mystifies the Treas
ury Officials.
THE COLLECTORS ARE AT SEA
Grave Questions Raised on Which Laws
OF Several states Are i'll Conflict
Legal Advice Necessary

Washington, April 9.-The decision of
the supreme court yesterday in the in
come tax case has plunged the internal
revenue officials into almost inexplica-
Bile mysteries and trouble. The more
the decision is studied the greater seems
the difficulties attending clear under
standing OF its scope. The declaration
that incomes from real estate are e:k-
empted hiss opened the question wheth-
er the effect Of the decision is not to i'll
clude all farm products. timber, coal
and all mine products within the exempt
class Whether the losses sustained
through bad rents, debts and amount
of expenses Incurred for collecting
rents. or for repairs on houses, are 70 be
deducted from the incomes. Is also
mooted question.
Under the decision rents are not be
Ing included in assessing the income
lax. Suppose. 1t Is asked, that man s
income is Of Il mixed character, that Is,
from real and personal property. The
former is exempt. Can he deduct the
expenses necessary for the collection of
his income from realty from his income
from personal property before making
a return? The question Is puzzling the
revenue collectors and q legal opinion
on the point will probably be sought.
Another grave question raised by the
decision Is whether the roadbed. round
houses stations, etc, Of railroads are
real estate or personal property within
the meaning Of the law. The laws of scE
.eral states are said to differ on this
point and on several others of import
ance involved in the opinion of the
court.
As soon RS a verified copy Of the opin-
lon can be had the internal revenue Off
cials will begin the prepara ton Of sup
plemetary regulati tions which will cover
an a more or less general way the Opin
ion Of the court. leaving more abStruse
questions to be solved as they are pre-
scented. The collectors Of the tax in
different parts Of the country already
have begun telegra phing for instruc-
tions on many points, with some stat
Ing that rush Of those who desire to
make returns has already begun. All
things considered, 1t Is now thought,
the loss to the treasury from the income
tax source will exceed so per cent. Of the
total expected from this tax.
MORE SUITS TO COMMENCE.
Attorney J. NJ. Wilson, who repre-
sented John G. Moore in the court of ap-
peals in the recent income tax cases,
said this morning that further proceed
ings would be begun Immediately.
Several parts Of the law will be at
tackled said he. "the principal one be
ing the exemption from taxation Of
incomes under $4,000 annually. This
i,
zion. l can not say just who the COM
pialnants or what the titles of the suits
will be, but they will be instituted,
probably within a few days, and will be
pushed as rapidly as possible"
The debates on the income tax while
the bill for its imposition was under
consideration. In congress are almost
barren of figures showing the compar-
alive Importance Of incomes from rents
and interest on county, municipal and
state bonds in furnishing a revenue to
the government. 1t does not appear
that this matter was touched upon in
the house discussion and it was only
casually referred to in the senate Sem
ator Aldrich Of Rhode Island prepared
a statement placing the revenues likely
90 be derived through the income tax
public bonds at about 80 per cent of this
amount.
PEFFER'S ESTIMATE.
Senator PETER, who made the princi-
pal speech in the senate In advocacy Of
an income tax, did not go into this
branch of the question at all, but he
said today In an interview that he was
Of the opinion that between $4,000, 900
Dfn =
derived from those two sources If the
supreme court had allowed them to
stand, and, he added, he thought this
amount would have been about Two
thirds Of the revenue produced by the
apcome tax. 1.-The census reports show,
ms said, that So per cent. of the people
of tEle United States are renters and 1t
is to be inferred that about this proper
Gion OF iand Is occupied by renters. The
land OF the entire country, with i'm
provemeRt5 added, is put down as
worth s3e,544,544,323. OF this amount
800 000, ,000,0 900 worth IS rented. The rent
IA on that amount on the average Of :
per cent. would be $1,000, 900. Just
what proportion of that would come
Mnder the law is another matter and
that could not be gotten at accurately
but let us assume that one-quarter OF
st, or $3.50, 900, 600 worth, would be taxa
bic income. that would give $4,000, O0(
Of an income tax and that 7 think a
very low estimate. The bonds, muni-
cipal, county and school district, which
would be subject to the tax amount
to $500, ,213, ,053. Take one-quarter Of this
amount as coming within the opera.
Sons of the law and one arrives at the
rate Of 2 per cent. on this amount
s4,ts1, ,O60, or total on the two items OF
abop. 50, 500, ,000."