New Britain herald., 1918-08-01
AUTOMOBILE TAX
 AN[) TAX ON GAS
Owners and Manufacturers to
 Contribute More to War

Washington, Aug. 1-Autom ob1le owners are to contribute a generous share toward winning the war. The first consumption taxes to be written into the new revenue law were framed yesterday by the ways and means committee and affect both the owners and users of motor cars.
 Motor owners will have to pay a tax ranging up from SIG, according to the original retail list price of their ma chimes. Tn addition a tax on gasolene of two cents a gallon was decided upon. Taxes on motor owners are ex- peCted to produce about S125.000,0 ,0O0 annually. The tax on gasolene con- sumption is counted on to produce between $4O,0O0.0OQ and $45,000,0Q0 each year.
 The tax favored by the majority of the committee to be imposed on auto mobile owners as it was written into the new law today is to be graduated as follows:
 On machines whose retail list price was less than S500--$1O.
 Between $500 and $75O-$15.
 Between $75O and S1,000-$20.
 Between s1,0o0 and $1,5O0-s30.
 Between s1,50O and $2,000-s40.
 Between S2,000 and $2,500-$50.
 Between $2,500 and $3,00O--$60.
 On $500 additional in the cost of the machine over s3,O0O an additional tax of s20 is imposed.
 
 rates written into the last revenue bill by the Senate Finance Committee. This tax was stricken from the bill be- fore it became law. The tax on gas olene was adopted without much de bate.
 Though the committee made 3 diff ferentiation in favor of motor trucks in imposing 6 lower rate of tax on manufacturers of motor trucks than on manufacturers of passenger cars, the committee took the view that trucks were quite as destructive to roads and that the owners of trucks should bear the same burden as the owners of cars used for merely pas senger purposes and should pay the tax for the gas used.
 The committee also tentatively de cided to levy a tax on motorcycles of 5 per cent, This price will be levied on the manufacturer or producer Owners of motorcycles although they will pay the tax in buying motor cycles, will not have an additional tax for owning them imposed on them, as in the case of automobile owners.
 Chairman Kitchin explained that the autom obile tax is in effect an eX- else tax on owners of automo oblles and that this tax does not apply to motor cycles.
 Sentim ent in the committee was plainly in favor of imposing the tax on automobile owners and little ob- lection was raised, The great major itv of automobile owners own them for their own plea sure, it vas agreed and therefore the general class of automobiles should be taxed. Own ing an automobile, the committee be- 1ieves is clearly 8 luxury. Evidently owning a motor truck is believed to be g. luxury, too. because no variation of the tax in favor of trucks was con- sdered.
 The tax on gasolene was adopted more unwillingly. Some of the com n1ittee believed this tax to be an un- necessary imposition and hardship on a great many business men al ready taxed to the limit. but, faced with the enorm ous shortages in the tax revenue the treasury has asked for, these members finally were won over.
 The committee is still fighting shy of tackling the suggested luxury taxes sent up by the Treasury Department It was the purpose of the whole com mittee to avoid the use of sub-Com- rnittees in handling the tax bill this time, but this practice was deviated from today when Representative Hull (Tennessee), Helvering, (Minnesota). and Moore CPensylvania), were ap- pointed a subcommittee to consider the schedule of luxury taxes sent to bhe Ways and Means Committee Tn this report the sub committee will recommend rates and the proper taxes to be written into the bill in lieu Of the drastic rates urged by the Treas ury
 In explaining the work of the Ways and Means Committee today, Chair man Kitchen confirmed the explana- ton published in The Sun of the use lessness of imposing 3 war profits tax in addition to the excess profits tax rates already agreed upon igures