The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-08-03
Greatest Tax Revenue Bill to Be Ready for Congress
 by August 19
HEAVY INCREASE IN
 SURTAX PREDICTED
New War Tax on Tobacco Independent of Special License Tax on Manu- lecturers, in Which Double
 Present Tax is Imposed

Washington, August 2.-Heavy increases in the present war tax on tobacco and cigarettes were agreed to today by the House ways and means committee as part of the new ss,ooo, ,ooo 900 revenue bill. rates on some items of the schedule ani Is expected to raise approximately $40. Wo.0oo in comparison with the present s6s,oooooo revenue from tobacco.
 The committee has made substantial headway in it's work and some of it's members predicted today that all dan ger of delay in reporting the bill Is over and that the total of $s,000, GOO 900, the greatest volume of revenue from taxa ton ever contemplated in the nations history. will be provided for and the bill
 in form to report when the House re- assemblies August 19 So far, however, there Is a large gap between the total estimated from the excess profits and in- come tax sections and the s6,000 O00 900 allotted to those sections in the original plan. The committee, accordingly went back today to the income surtax para graphs and while there was no definite action 1t was evident there will be heavy increases in surtax rates.
 There was also some discussion of two plans to superifnpose a strictly war prof. It's tax on the excess profits tax, one of the plans being for complete supple mental tax, every dollar of which would be additional to the excess profits reve- nue, and the other an alternative prop osition, under which the treasury would
 impose either the excess profits tax or the war profits tax, but not both ot them, the tax to be imposed being that which would bring the larger revenue In each individual case.
 Todays action as to war taxes on to- bacco was independent of the special H. censc tax on manufacturers of tobacco,
 in which double the present tax was inn posed on the basis of the annual sales
 KITCHENS STATEMENT
 Chairman kitchin made this statement tonight:
 'The committee reached the following tentative decision as to the tobacco schedule: On cigars. weighing not more than three pounds per 1000, tax increased from the present sl per 1000 to g per 1000 cigars weighing more than three pounds per 1000 and retailing at not more than 1cents each, increased from s to s5o per 1000; cigars retailing at more than cents and not more than 2 cents each. increased from $i to Sl0 per 1000; cigars retailing at more than cents each and less than 15 cents each, increased from
 
 each. increased from sS to s2o per 1000. and those retailing at 20 cents or more each, increase from sf0 to so per 1900 "Cigarettes weighing not more than three pounds per 1000 and retailing at less than cents each, increased from s205 to $5 per 1000; those of same weight retailing at ? cents or more. in-s creased from s2.05 to sS per 1000; those weighing more than three pounds per 1000 increased from $4.s0 to slo per l1000
 .Tobacco tax increased from 13 cents to 30 cents per pound,
 1 Cigarette paper and tubes, tax dou- ! bled
 "Experts estimate that the revenue for the 12-month period from these to- bacco taxes will total S340,000000, lagainst a present revenue of s16S,00o,- 900 from the same sources. The commit | tee adjourned until Monday, when the luxury taxes probably will be con sidered
 The ways and means subcommittee on luxuries to which was as- signed the consideration of the whole question of luxurfes, including those already discussed in the full commit ltee held hearing todty The commit ! tee comprises Representative Hull Of Tennessee. Helvinber of Kansas and I Moore of Pennsylvania, Meyer D. Rothchild of New York and Wilson A. streeter of Philadelphia, representing I the jewellers war revenue tax commit ltee opposed levying tax on jewelry at | the source and urged that 1t be laid on | the consumer on the bass of use i The jewellers committee contended | that by collecting the tax on the basis l of sales to the consumer sl5O,000,000 lmore might be raised than if imgposed fin lesser wholesale prices | was said 1 that by an ultimate consumer tax on l jewelry there would be no indefinite ness as to what the cost plus the tax might be in the popular mind and that more people would buy jewelry. The luxury subcommittee will meet tomor- 1 row with view to framing recom- lmendations to lay before the full conn mittee Monday