Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1914-12-22
Louis Murphy Issues Statement tc
People Of His District-Must
Have Patience.
CANNOT KEEP UP WITH DEMAND
Twenty-Five Deputies Kept Busy
With Correspondence of the
Office.

rIcSLudu- liuuuc. Loulo -hu4 pLS
Collector of Internal Revenue
for Iowa, today issues state.
ment reassuring to persons
who have applied for licenses arc
stamps under the war revenue emer.
gency act.
81 take it for granted" says the
collector, that there are several
thousand persons in Iowa ready tC
testify that among 1owa's other
needs is a collector of revenue who
will answer their letters. These
people, of course, have no concep.
ton of the volume of work thrown
upon the collectors office. 1t is pref.
ty hard to describe it, | can think
of no smile better descriptive than
to say it was as though flood had
swept over 200 miles of country and
deposited all its debris in my office
For days sacks of mail went un-
opened. Most urgent letters laid
unattended to. Hundreds of letters
asking information haven't been an
swered and there is no telling when
they will be. Four weeks, night,
day and Sunday twenty-five depu-
ties have been coping with the work.
Needless to say, they're all tired out,
but staying with the job neverthe-
less.
"The man who sent in his money
for license now wants to know
why he hasn't received it. The
same with the man who has order
ed stamps. Both may rest assured
that they'll get what they ordered.
All persons who are subject to IL
cense tax-brokers, commission
merchants, theatre owners, tobacco
dealers and bowling alley and pool
table owners were wise in getting
forms on which to make returns be-
fore December 81, because thereby
Luey ludy dNOlu peud1tS.
Hundreds of correspondents
raise the same questions, Must
barber stamp the toilet articles he
uses on his customers, or sells to
them?" He must, Of course. Are
toilet soaps taxable?" Such as are
used as cosmetics must be. Must
talcum powder be stampede" 1t
must Send me stamps for vanilla
and lemon favoring extracts" groc-
ers write, thinking these extracts
taxable, whereas they are not.
what about perfume l sell in small
bottles-do l put the stamps on
them or on the larger bottle from
which | fill them?" The answer is,
in every case, on the cOntainer, with
contents, sold to the consumer.
1.-The question is raised docs a
deed executed and delivered prior to
December |, and presented for rec
ord on or after that date require
stamps?" If the deed was delivered
before Dec. /, it requires no stamps.
In cases where stamps have been put
on such deeds, refund may be secur-
ed by fling with Form As, which
may be had from my office, the
stamps put on the deed. If they
can't be removed, a deputy collector
should be solicited to view the deed
and certify the facts. 1t is to be
in this connection, that
deeds not properly stamped render
the grantor liable to prosecution
and the grantee gets clouded title. ,
Bankers ask if overdrafts on
which they charge interest must be
stamped. Discerning no difference
between them and promissory notes, /
Or certificates of deposit to cover
loans by one bank to another, my Of
ice holds all alike taxable. The
question of what certificates require
stamps is easily answered. Is it
specifically taxed? If not, is it re-
luired by law? If not specifically
,axed and not required by law, then
t is not taxable. Are security
,onds given by a public official tax-
tble?" They are; if a personal bond,
20 cents; if corporate surety COM
,any's bond, one-half of one per cent
N each dollar of premium paid. The
tanker also asks about assignments
md satisfactions of mortgages and.
mortgages themselves. They are not
axable. The principal mortgage
tote is, however, and so are the in
crest notes. Notarial acknowledge
1ents and affidavits require no
lamp. Neither do bills of sale. nor
ontracts for sale, which do not vest
tile. Deeds in escrow are not to
. stamped before they are deliver