Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1905-07-23
DISLlKES THE INCOME TAX
Many People Are Indignant with
work Of Assessors I'm
Great Britain.

LONDON, July 22.-(special Cablegram to
The Bee THE report of the parliamentary
committee on the evasion of the income
tax has been received by many people with
indignation. They declare that numerous
people are made to pay income tax who
should never pay at ALI that the recovery
Of the wrongly paid amounts is so dif1cult
as to be almost impossible that large
numbers, especially tradesmen and strug-
Cling professional men, are assessed far
above their actual income; and that a great
body of workingmen earning we'll over the
minimum taxable income pay nothing at
all.
The handling of income tax returns Is so
delicate a matter that during recent years
new profession, an offshoot of account
ancy has come into being to defend the
purses of the rate payer Firms like the
Income Tax Adjustment agency, the In
come Tax Reclamation association and
Others have ge offices and keep large
staffs of men at WORK.
T. Hallett Fry, the head Of the last
named association, declares emphatcally
that while there are evasions of income
tax the officials more than recompense for
these evasions by the excessive amounts
they obtain In other directions.
Thousands of people widows for in
stance, whose incomes may not be more
than $3.50 per year but VII, obtain their
money through interes' in limited COM
panes, have the tax deducted before their
! dividends are paid to them" he said.
MANY do not know how to recover.
According to the last return there were
1854 600 separate assessments made on com
panles for INCOME tax. II we allow an
| average of only twenty persons to one
company-and one firm. Liptons, has 10000
shareholders-that makes 100000 made to
! pay full income tax on their company earn
| ings Does anybody imagine that there are
| 100000 of people in England today earn
| ing the full income laid down by law be-
yond the abatement limit?
"Then there are excessive assessments
| The tradesman who has entered a shop in
| a good suburban town finds himself as
| sessed for $500. Probably he does not
make over 1880 clear profit. But how is
! he to show it? AS a rule he does not keer
books in a way which will enable him to
make out a clear statement. If he called
an accountant 1t would cost him probably
at least $3.50 to have a three years state.
ment drawn up. If he appeals he has tc
detail all of his affairs to a number OF
local men, very likely his business rivals.
"The same applies to bigger enterprises
| I know of one concern that In seven years
made an actual loss OF $25OOO. Yet during
that time 1t was assessed and had to pay
tax on $1s,5OO"
Compared with the United States evil
IDENTIFY Great Britain has few persons whc
receive incomes exceeding $250.0OO a year
This fact is revealed by the parliamentary
return on the assessment and payment Of
income tax just issued by the treasury de
partment. According to those same sta
tistics the emoluments of government, cor
porate and other public officials have risen
Judging from the assessments by $125 900, 90
in ten years. the incomes derived from
farming have fallen by nearly $4,000, ON
the incomes of property 5wrers hsvg gon,
up by over S55,OOOOOO ana the incomes o
the business, professional and private EN-
ployment classes have Increased by abou
$50, 100000.