The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-08-09
ID PER CENT TAX 0N LEASED WIRES
 IS DECIDED UPON
Auto Owners to Pay Horse power Tax and Tobacco Taxes of Present Law
 to Be Doubled


 of 10.per cent on amounts paid for leased telephone and tele-
 graph lines, including press as
 sociations, and brokerage cir
 cults, a horsepower tax on au-
 tomobile owners and doub-
 ling of the tobacco taxes of the present law, instead of a higher |range of rates previously agreed upon, were written into
 the $9,000,000,000 revenue bill today by the House ways and
 means committee.
 Chairman Kitchin in a statement to- night replied to the telegram of Sec retary McAdoo fayoring retention of | the present excess profits law, and l flat 80 per cent war profits tax as all alternative, according to the greater revenue likely to be raised in each corporation's case. Mr. Kitchin's state- ! ment indicated that the committee will retain in substance the dual or alterna- 1 tive system it agreed upon but will | insist that the excess profits tax, in- stead of remaining at the present rates, shall be increased either the com- mittee has agreed on them or by some compromise adjustment.
 AGREES WITH M'ADOO repajved Sacretary McAdOo'S | telegram August 5.'' said MT. Kitchin,
 land with the exception of the retain 1 ing of the rates on excess profits in ! the existing law, agree and I think I the committee does. The ways and | means committee, ten days before the 1 telegram was received, determined. on i the motion of Representative Crisp of 1 Georgia, to have a war profits tax, 1 the treasury to select whichever tax 1 shall raise the higher revenue. I did
 not give this action to the press be- cause we were trying to work out tho ! inequalities involved in the alterna- l tive system and to fix a proper rela- I tion between the excess profits and war profits tax methods 1T have no doubt the Secretary of
 the Treasury, the treasury departments and the ways and means committee will work out an equitable way i'll which to equalize these relations and
 adjust them The committee is thor.
 oughly convinced that with the ai-
 ternative war profits tax. the excess profits tax rates in the present law are 1 too low I think the committee IS
 unanimously of that opinion. Witk
 the excess profits rates tentatively
 agreed to by the committee and the
 alternative war profits plan, we will
 catch everybody"
 KITCHENS RESUME 1 MT. Kitchin's resume of today's com
 mittee work follows:
 1 The committee agreed to put tax
 of three per cent on freight transpor- ! tation within the United States. orig I mating in foreign country, to apply on that part of the shipment within the United States.
 We increased the tax on transpor- :, tation of oil by pipe from five to six and one-half per cent.
 l "A tax of 10 per cent on the amount paid for leased lines and talking cir cults, was agreed to. That includes
 
 | these leased lines. have no estimate {, of revenue from this source. The tax will be paid by the lessees 1 "On motion picture films we agreed | upon new tax of five per cent on ! the rentals received by the producer "The committee reconsidered the 1 tobacco schedule and in substance agreed to double all the present law l rates on cigars, cigarettes and tobacco Heretofore the committee tentatively proposed rates that in some cases trebled the present law rates. The ] committee now has agreed to double and believe that it will obtain a much revenue thereby
 1 The committee reconsidered the tax ! on users of automobiles and levied d tax on the basis of horsepower as fol- i lows:
 Twenty-Five horsepower or less,
 $10; 24 to 30 horsepower, $20; 31 to 40 horsepower. $30; more than 40 horse- 1 power $50. This includes trucks as well as passenger vehicles"
 MT. Kitchin said the committee had l finally decided to allow payment of 1 income and excess profits taxes in I three instalments. with a discount of
 one and one-ninth per cent if all the tax is paid when due. = CAMP WILCOX