The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-08-03
FOR LANDLORDS RELIEF
Lease Devised to Avoid Pay
ing War Tax on Rent
Receipts. Us
RULES FOR cANCELLlNG STAMPS
Commissioner Scott Makes
Some More Rulings Show
ing the Absurdities Of
the Law.

William Rutan, Revenue Collector tor
his district, had submitted to him a form
of lease 20 be used in cases of transient
tenancy in order TO avoid the payment OF
25 cents per month on each receipt for
rent. The lease would only require a %
cent stamp, and by virtue of its existence
no receipt given in accordance with Il
would need to be stamped.
The form of lease submitted by Mr..
Groel is the same as that used for yearly
contracts of rental, except that it pro-
vides for monthly payments, and that it
allows its own dissolution on thirty days
notice by either landlord or tenant.
Collector Rutan aid that the lease
was clearly no evasion of the law, ana
would be held good by his department.
Mr.. Groel also submitted it to a lawyer
who ~nounc its terms valid accord
ing to the State law.
It is thought that this plan would be
a good one for the revenue. as well as for
the public, because it would be adopted
generally, and thus more stamps would
be bought and used than would be under
the insistment that all rent receipts pc
stamped.
1t is not believed that the department.
officials could ever enforce the order to
stamp all receipts. One reason is tina
they could not force anyone to give a re-
ceipt. 1t is estimated that thousands OF
persons in this city. who paid rent yester-
day for August. got no receipts. They
either paid before witness or trusted e
the landlords good bookkeeping and goec
sense.
D~eIinouents continued today to make
their tardy applications for special wal
tax returns at the local internal revenue
bureau. but in less numbers than yester-
day. Almost everyone had a protest te
make against the exacting of the 80 pei
| cent. penalty for non-payment before last
| Saturday, and the kicks were as vehe-
ment and The excuses as varied as those
made yesterday.
The Commissioner of Internal Revenue
has issued the following circular in re-
gard TO the cancellation of internal reve-
nue. stamps
I'm any and all cases where an adj
hesive stamp shall be used for denotine
any tax imposed by the act of June 3
1893. the person using or afixing the sam
shall write or stamp thereon with inh
the initials of his name and the date
tyGdTj III WHICH tAG SdlHS SAcll DC x
| ed or used. or shall by cutting and can
ceiling said stamp with a machine o.
punch, which will affix the initials and
date as aforesaid, so deface the stamp as
to render it unfit for reuse.
The cancellation by either method
should not SO deface the stamp as to pre-
vent its denomination and genuineness
from being readily determined Stamps
imprinted upon the face of checks, drafts
or other similar instruments, may be can
ceEed by dating, signing and filing out
the blank lines in writing across the face
| and stamp in the usual manner in draw
ing checks and drafts. Stamps on checks
and drafts may also be cancelled by per-
forating through said stamp and the
paper to which it is attached the amount
in figures for which said check or draft
is drawn.
Where proprietary stamps printed
from private dies are used for the pay
ment of tax upon proprietary articles, in
stead of cancellation by initials and date,
such stamps shall be so affixed on the
box bottle or package that in opening
the same or using the contents thereof
the said stamp shall be effectually de-
stroyed."
In reply to a request for information
m regard to the standing of memoranda
of contracts, given to both buyer and
seller. the ruling is that no tax is requir-
ed on copies of contracts. The contract
ing parties must decide who shall retain
the stamped contract.
The COMMISSIONS Of internal Revenue
has held that a travelling theatrical COM
pany, playing dramas without exhibiting
feats of -horsemanship or acrobatic sports
in towns of twenty-five thousand inhabi-
tants or less, is liable to a tax Of $40 for
the year under Paragraph 6 of Section 2
of the new revenue act. 1t had previously
been held that this class of performances
came within Paragraph Z, which imposes
a fax of 500.