Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-03-22

amount is intangible personally, most of
which has been concealed from the tax
gatherer.
The salaried man who owns a two
thousand-dolar house has his property in
sight. and is taxed by the local tax
authorities. His neighbor, who has
100000 in bonds, conceals the property
from them, and pays nothing Some
states, in sheer disgust with attempts
to collect on intangible property, have
exempted moneys and credits from taxa
ton so as to avoid putting a premium
on perjury.
dens are harsh and inequitable and meas
urably' limited to those either willing and
honest enough to disclose their full prop
erty values for taxation or those whose
property is not concealable.
collection at the source stops the in
come on Intangible property before it can
reach the owner of that property. The
intricate methods of collecting this money
now in these earlier days resorted to by
the Treasury Department in no small
measure are due to the fault of our pc
culiar and intricate business conditions.
which have been so contrived as to render
it impossible for the states and their sub
divisions to reach this class of property
for taxation. save to nominal extent.
I'm addition collection at the source is
the only means of reaching the incomes
OF non-res dent Americans, OF whom
spoke a little while ago.
The law will secur, the substantial
benefits of collection at the source and
at the same time avoid any refund Of
taxes on account of exemptions, and also
satisfy almost all claims for deductions
at the source Of the income by abating
the assessment Ever Individual tax
payer has number of remedies for Sc
curing the benefit of both exemptions and
deductions.
This method Of collection reaches
every item of fixed annual income exceed
ing 5000, and not only secures the nor
NAL tax upon the entire amount to the
Treasury. but locates and discloses all
such taxable incomes for the purpose of
the assessment and collection OF the addi-
tional tax"
Xxx
Why is the exemption fixed at S.; 00O?"
"A model income tax Law would en-
brace a graduated tax imposing the low
est rate at a point just above the amount
Of net income reasonably necessary to
support an average family, and likewise
imposing the higher rates upon each sue
cessive category of income. Possibly
5000 is higher than the income thus de-
fined, but the overwhelming portions of
our other national taxes, and of our
state, county and municipal taxes,
amounting to more than $4,000. 100000,
are paid by those whose average incomes
are less than $1,000.
Quite aside from this, however it was
not deemed wise in the beginning to
act law of almost universal applica-
ton, because, like all new laws, it must
first be understood by the people and
become adjusted to the intricate business
conditions of the country before its ad
ministration- can be expected to prove
entirely convenient and satisfactory.
Then. too, this tax is only one source of
government revenue, at present, and
should therefore be dealt with only as
part of our general revenue system. In
time, as 1 have pointed out, a lower fig
ure of exemption may be found advis-
able
How much annual revenue do you eX-
pect the income tax normally TO pro-
duceT'
"A great deal more than was at first
estimated. Eighty-five millions was the
early estimate as to the product of the
law for the fractional part of last year.
Indications are now that it will run
closer to 500, 100000 For this year, the
tax will yield probably $125OO0.O4, and