The sun., 1915-10-28


ness. To allow the deduction Of debit
would open the door to fraud and eva
sion. In any event. n rigorous and i'm
partial enforcement Of any general tai
upon personal property would involv,
much expense to the city and State be
sides causing much vexation to citi
zens.
Under the existing laws u person ac
tually residing or doing business in New
York for large part of the year cal
| practically escape personal taxation by
establishing his legal residence at SOM
other place within or without the State
Similarly corporations. though actual,
doing business in the city OF New York
can escape paying Large part OF tn,
taxes which they ought to pay by es
tabtshing their legal place of bushes.
| elsewhere. This results in great in
equality and injustice. Liability TO pay
taxes to the city and state should de-
pend upon the actual residence or plac,
Of business of the taxpayer and should
not be determined by legal residence oil
a nominal place Of business which car
be shifted at Will.
! The value OF real estate In the city o,
New York and the wealth which Ia tho
| source OF all revenue OF the city and
| the source OF the greater part o. the
revenue OF the State Is due TO the fac,
that New York city is the principal cen.
| tire of business in the United States. II
Is therefore essential TO avoid imposing
any taxation that would drive business
| or wealth out Of the city OF New York
| Such taxation would defeat itself By
| lowering real estate values and by d.
| ninishing the wealth which Is the bass
| Of all taxation.
OF course. taxes for State purposes
should be adjusted in suoh manner rs
10 bear equitably upon the people In all
parts OF the State, including the city OF
New York: but the several cities and
counties of the State should not all be
compelled to apply a uniform system OF
taxation TO ra.se the revenue required
for their local purposes. The revenue re-
quirenents OF the city OF New York and
the conditions affecting taxation In the
city are essentially different from those
prevailing in other parts OF the state.
The city of New York certainly should
be allowed 10 establish "A system OF tax
alton for local purposes In accordance
with the special conditions prevailing
! in the city and with the special revenue
requirements of the city.
My conclusions are briefly as follows
The state should continue to raise
the bulk of the revenue required for
state purposes through indirect taxa.
ton. Possibly the revenue from indi.
rect taxation could advantaseousiy be
increased by means Of n stamp tax on
checks and by the imposition of some
new license taxes. and possibly some of
the existing indirect taxes could be in
creased. Any revenue not raised by
thrs' means should he raised by a direct
'aN ur rcd! estate.
~ - desirable that par, OF the ueccs-
sagy revenue OF the state always will
he raised by a direc; taA on real estate,
for this Will b. the best II not the only
way OF checking extravaganza and waste
of public funds IN Albany. 1t may be
difficult to obtain a just equalization OF
real estate values Tor the purpose Of a
state tax. but this difficulty can in great
measure be overcome by more effective
administration OF the law. In any event
any uufa!rness resulting from inaccurate
equalization OF real estate values seems
tn me OF very little Importance IN view
b of ,hr .salSantiges of other forms of
state TAXATION that have been suggested
and the great advantage Of making all
owners OF real estate directly interested
in the economical administration of the
state Government.
The city OF New York and the other
cities and the counties q! the State
should. as heretofore raise the bulk
! Of their required revenue through taxa
ton ~ real estate. but the present tax
upon personal property should be wholly
,tOo. shed. and each city and county
should raise through other forms OF tax
alton any part Of its necessary revenue
that cannot justly be raised by taxation
OF real estate.
In the city OF New York should
recommend that there be imposed upon
every person dwelling in the city n per-
sonal tax measured by the assessed
value oless The exemption hereafter
mentioned Of the house and lot occu-
pied by him as "A dwelling, or II the
dwelling be a Nat or part Of building.
by proportionate part Of the assessed
value Of the building and of the lot
or lots upon which il stands. The tax
should be strictly personal lax and
should be payable by every person oc-
or as lessee. Any agreement Of land
lord 20 assume the tax payable by a
tenant should be void. The proposed
tax should be measured by the as
sessed value Of dwellings rather than
by their rental value partly because
this basis is the fairer one and partly
because an assessment based upon rent
paid or rental value would he likely to
result in inequality and abuse.
The tax should be imposed upon every
person occupying "A dwelling in the city
whether his legal residence be in the
city or elsewhere. The tax should not
be imposed upon "A person occupying a
dwelling less than ninety days. and a
person occupying n dwelling during only
part Of the year should he required
to pay only propOrtionate part Of the
tax. However. the owner or lessee OF a
dwelling should be held to occupy II as
long as he keeps il furnished for the
use and occupation OF himself or family.
though the dwelling may be temporarily
closed or the occupant be temporarily
absent.
Thus. a person leasing and occupying
"A dwelling in New York six months and
then. moving away from New York
should be required to pay the tax for
only one-half Of the year but an owner
or lessee Of dwelling keeping II
throughout the year for the use or oc-
cupation OF himself or family should
he liable to pay the tax for the entire
year, though his legal residence he at
Newport, II. J., or al Westbury, L. l.,
and though he may close the dwelling
and be absent from New York during
the greater part of the year.
Every occupant of a dwelling should
be allowed an exemption OF "A fixed
sum. say $4,000 from the assessed value
of his dwelling in assessing the tax. !
assume that the rental OF a tenement or
house of an asse esscd value of $1,000
would be approximately $3.50 per nnnum
Occupants OF dwellings, of an assessed
value less than the prescribed sum
should be wholly exempt.
Each owner or lessee OF dwelling
occupied by HIM with others should he
required to pay the tax IA though the
sole ocCuuant hut ne shopild he n lloved