The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-04-03
INHERITANCE TAX CONFUSION.

| Attorney General A. R. Barnes of
Utah scored a noteworthy triumph in
collecting the inheritance tax of almo
$S00,000 from the Hartman estate And
now he is reported to be pushing a like
claim against the Havemeyer estate,
on account of the Havemeyer interest
In the local sugar trust, and also one
against the Moffat estate for the sup
posed holdings of Mr. Moffat in the Rio
Grande railroad. All good citizens of
Utah will wish Mr. Barnes as complete
success in these two quests as he
achieved in the Hartman case In the
meantime, it is noteworthy that Gov
ernor Dix of New York is urging the
| repeal of the newest inheritance tax
law of New York, because of its dras
tic features and its fixing of the rate
| of tax as high in some cases as twenty
| five per cent. This, Governor Dix claims,
is driving money out of the State, and
is injurious to business.
In the meantime, there is a good deal
of grumbling in certain Eastern quar-
ters because of the conditions which
gave Mr, Barnes his success in the Har
riman case. The Boston News Bureau
has been printing in a series of articles
summary of the inheritance tax laws
of the various States, most of which
now levy an inheritance tax, running
from moderate levy to the confisca-
tlon law of Oklahoma which reaches
one hundred per cent in the larger es-
tates, where the property would pass
to remote heirs. The News Bureau Is
rebellious against the reaching out by
many of the States to collect taxes be
yond their own proper jurisdiction, as
1T claims. On this point it says:
We have spoken OF double and triple
has stock in corporation organized in
another State which does all its busi-
ness in third State. and keeps his
stock in a safe deposit box in a fourth
State: his estate may be obliged to pay
a run Inheritance tax four times. The
first state may be any one OF 3S:
least "a; the third State any one Of Of
nine and the fourth State any one OF
half dozen.
The New England paper claims that
this presents an intolerable condition,
whereby estates are robbed, and il de-
mands that the States should "act rea-
sonably," and ''with due regard each
for the rights of other States.'' II
claims that property passing to heirs
should be taxable only once, and that in
the State where the property is 10
tal nd hot ho
property is where the owner of it was
domiciled at the time Of his death.
There would appear to be no inst
ground, however, for an exclusive claim
of this kind Personal property that
consists of corporation issues is prop.
erly taxable in the State where the
property represented by those issues is.
and where the corporation itself has
its domicie 1t was on this ground.
the Hartman roads being incorporated
in Utah, that Utah made the successful
claim which it did on the Hartman es-
tate.
The claim is made that this extra
territorial reach Of different States for
inheritance taxation is delaying or de-
feating ratification of the Federal in
come tax amendment to the Constitu-
tion, on the ground that Federal tax
would add to the oppression and confu-
sion. But any confusion that exists
should, in fact, be cleared up rather
than added to by the imposition of the
Federal income tax. For, as has been
stated heretofore, the grant of power