South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1919-01-12
Indianapolis Tax Expert Assails Plan
Of Coz. Goodrich to Reform Indiana
Taxation rs Nol0 Before Legislature

any previous year you owned any
mortgage. notes. bonds. foreign
stocks or any other personal prop
erty. which YOU falsely swore you
did not own. you are now absolved
from paying any taxes thereon"
VIII not such a law be extremely
detrimental TO the state and bene-
fetal beyond expression 10 tax dodg-
ers2 Are the states hands TO be
tied. justice 20 be blinded and pre-
MUM paid for dishonesty of the
paste
Unfair 60 Honest Citizens
shall the taxpayers who have.
made honest tax returns in past
years be. I'm effect. told by the state
that they have been fools TO have
been honest and law-abiding?
To be consistent and wholly fair.
il such "a bill is 10 be passed, sec
ton should ne incorporated direct
ing, the repayment of every dollar
with interest which every honest
taxpayer has ever heretofore paid.
IF the slate IL TO be wiped clean,
wipe il clean on both sides
The supporters Of this one-sided
slate-cleaning propaganda base their
position on the absurd belief and
hope that cancellation OF the in
debtedness Of millions of dollars i'm
taxes now due for past omissions
by tax dodgers. viii make the after
become honest taxpayers i'm the flu
ture. Shall these millions of dol
lars I'm back taxes, now due. owing
and cOHectable under an enforcement
OF the present law. be forever lost
in order TO try out mere expert
ment. the outcome Of which no one
can or viii guarantee? People can
not he made honest 10y legislation;
respect for the law is in exact pro-
portion to its enforcement. This
proposed plan of forgiveness" is
giving up a certainty for a mere
conjecture giving mp the certainty
OF collection Of thousands. even mill
lions Of dollars owing 10 the state
in taxes for the UtOpian dream of
future honesty
Such ideas and propa ganda would
De silly were they not so dangerous
dangerous because the effect and
Importance Of it all does not seem
10 have been sufficiently well con-
sidered or realized 10y the state
board of tax commissioners - dan
gerous because i'm perusing a long
bill comprising LAP printed pages
the general public may overlook or
not fully realize or understand all
that said Secs. 245 and 307 intend
and contemplate.
BY way Of definite illustra ton, il
these two provisos TO Secs. PAS and
307 become the law and on the next
day after they 20 into effect some
wealthy tax dodger dies and the
inventory Of his estate definitely
discloses thousands or millions of
dollars which should have been
taxed in previous years. but which
were concealed and lodged. abso-
lutely nothing can be done by tax
officials to assess such proper Y for
the years IL was omitted and M tax
can ever be collected for those lack
years. And still the supporters of
this bill claim its main purpose is
tax reform TO uncover the tax dodg-
or ana DIlu% dboul tHudiitS auo JUS
tice Is there any reform. equality
or Justice in this illustration / have
cited2 Can the dead tax dodger
hereafter become an honest taxpay-
err in future years and so repay the
state for its clemency2 County as
SCISSORS In every county OF the state
will tell YOU their most productive
so,tt,.c, Of ipforrna rfOn concerning
omitted property comes from the