Putnam patriot., 1913-04-18
THE PUTNAM PATRIOT April IS 1913

panies. corporations. joint stock com panies. associations or insurance com panies. and all trustees. executors. ad- ministrators. receivers. etc, and off, cers and employees of the United States having the control or disposal of salaries. wages. interest and other profits and income of another person to withhold and pay to the collector of internal revenue the amount of in- come tax due from such person. All such persons or firms are made per sonally liable for such tax.
 Persons or corporations liable to make return on incomes who fail to do so st specified time, are made liable to a fine not exceeding $500 and the penalty for false or fraudulent re- turns is fixed at s1,000 or imprison- ment not exceeding one year. or both. Tn formulating this additional im- post" said Chairman Underwood in | his report, the attempt has been made to provile not only source of revenue. but also a means of redress | ing in some measure the unequal tax burdens which result from the prac- 1 tice of passing the federal income en- | tirely upon customs and internal reye- nue duties. This is system of tax ation which inevitably throws the bur den of supporting the government up on the shoulders of the consumers. i It correspondingly exempts the men of larger income. whose consumption | of the ordinary necessaries of life Is subject to tariff taxation in far less aggregate degree than is that of small CT income earners, who expend the greater proportion of their resources for the ordinary necessaries of life" 1 Underwood Defends Plan.
 Speaking of the principle of taxa | tion laid down and the graduated sys- | tenn proposed, MT. Underwood de- clared:
 .The progressive principle already | has been sustained by the Supreme court of the United States in the in- heritance tax cases and there can be no doubt that the same principle sp- | plies to the income tax included in | this bill and will be fully upheld
 should it ever be called into question. Owing to defects in personal property | taxation. the larger incomes in the
 United States have for many years
 been able to escape with less than
 their share of the general burden of
 taxation, and this ineouty will be. it
 is believed, in part overcome by the
 plan proposed"
 The bill provides that all taxable | persons shall be notified of the amount l for which they are liable under the
 law on or before the 1st day of June l of each year and assessments must be
 paid on or before June 30 For delay 1 in making payments and ten days aft
 CT notice, there shall be added the sum of 5 per cent of the amount of
 tax unpaid and interest at the rate Of 1 per cent. a month from the time the
 tax fell due.
 The corporation tax provision, 1t Is 1 directed shall be computed upon in come for the year ending December 1 31. 1913, and for each calendar year thereafter. It is provided, however, that corporations may designate the 1 last day of any month as the day Of the closing of the fiscal year and may have the tax computed on the basis 1 of net income ending on its designated | day. All labor, agricultural, horsi- cultural, fraternal, religious and mu- tual benefit societies are made exempt
 from the tax.