South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1919-01-12

how the proposed bill will work out
II enacted TO assess these credits at
only % per cent and chattels at 100
per cent.
Injustice Pointed out.
BY way OF illustration. II YOU have
800 and buy a horse. a piano or a
watch, all .chattels." with a.. YOU
will have 20 pay taxes on the full
S16O valuation. but il YOU put the
$l00 on deposit in bank. II then is
considered credit" and you only
have 10 pay taxes on a S25 valu-
alton; If you prefer TO keep the
800 I'm your pOcketbook, then il be-
comes a "chattel" AMI YOU will have
10 pay taxes on the full value Of
500. These are facts and the
friends Of the bill admit IT, Is il
equitable or fair?
II you hold a bond OF the United
States Steel Corporation actually
worth 81 900 it will be considered a
credit" and be valued for taxation
against YOU al only S250, but if you
own shares Of stock in the same
company worth 81 geo such shares
pay taxes or the full $1,000 calu-
atioE. AS every+ one knows. a bond
is a much safer investment than
shares of stock and that they never
fluctuate in value like stocks do.
yet Sec. 56-A says. i'm effect. that a
bond so fiuctuating in value that
IL must be assessed at only % per
cent. whereas foreign stocks which
are high today and low tomorrow
are TO be assessed at the value Of
100 per cent. II is claimed. how
ever, that this arrangement or pro-
cedure OF assessment will bring
bonds out of hiding. Maybe il will.
but do you realize that il will have
to bring four times the amount Of
bonds already annually assessed out
of hiding before anything will be
gained and that such unjust dis
elimination will serve to cause the
owners Of foreign stocks TO hide
them from taxation as they have
never hidden them before?
Under the provisions of this pro-
posed bill. if you own a farm worth
$4,000, on which you have placed
an $4,000 mortgage, you will he re-
quired 20 pay taves on the full So
O0O, less 500 mortgage. exemption.
or $1,000. while the person owning
the $4,000 mortgage will only have
TO pay taxes on a $4,000 valuation.
Does that really strike you as being
directed 10 "equalizing the taxation
among all the people?"
,F r.ta
will cause so much more property
voluntarily to be given in for taxa
alton. Such is certainly and palpa-
bly, not true of mortgag es, for mort
cages can not be hidden any more
than real estate, il the tax officials
will go over the mortgage records
and get a list of same as the present
law now i'm force directs them to do.
mortgages are matters of public
record. Anybody can find them and
there is no possible excuse or rea =
son to favor their assessment at
only % per cent Of their true cash
value if the real estate which gives
them security and value is TO be
assessed at 100 per cent.
If. on tax assessment day, you
buy an automobile for $4,000 and
give your note for IL. will IL be fair
to tax you on the full 50, 600 value of
the car which will suffer depreci-
alton during the ensuing year and
TO tax the holder OF your $4,000
note on only $500 valuation? Is
there anything equitable about that
Point to Other States.
The supporters of this bill say
that other states have had tremen-
dous success in bringing property
out of hiding by making a law tax
assessment on credits" I'm Penn
sylvania. for thirty years or more.
all personal property is assessed at
the very low rate of only 81 tax per
81. 200 valuation. This did not pre-
vent a citizen of Pennsylvania.
whom / have in mind. from annual
~ swearing for thirty years that he
only owned $4,000 in mortgage
notes. whereas his actual invest
ment in mortgage notes amounted