The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-06-02
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HAsKIN, Director.
Washington, D. c.
THE THEATER TAX.

eminent by those people who pay adj
missions to theaters aggregates for the
United States $50,000,000 a year.
The average individual who pays ten
/ or twenty or thirty cents for admission
| into a moving picture show and an
additional one or two or three pennies
for tax to the government, rarely stops
to visualize the sum total of these
pennies when they are finally scraped
| together and turned over to the treas
ury department at Washington to be
used in defraying the expenses of gov
| eminent. Were they to arrive at the
treasury, in two-horse drays, there
would be a string of them six miles
long, bearing 1000 tons of pennies
| Few people appreciate the organiza-
ton that is necessary in the collection
of these pennies-the complications of
| the task of seeing to it that every
theater that sells tickets turns in the
tax money to the government
Delinquent Theaters.
Last week United States special
agents stationed in Chicago made
survey of the situation to determine
whether or not the government is get
| ting all that is coming to it from this
| amusement tax. 1t found that in the
internal revenue district in which Chi
cago is located there were $50 theaters
which were in arrears in the payments
of the amounts due the government
| Orders imm ediately went forward
| from Washington for drastic action IN
bringing these delinquent theaters up
to the mark. At the same time blan-
ket order was sent out to the sixty
four collectors of internal revenue in
the sixty-four districts instructing each
to survey his field to determine what
| theaterSf were in arrears and to take
the necessary action to collect all
moneys due to date. This action calls
attention to the necessity which lies
I AMI raf II
| ing every ticket which is sold to every
| performance everywhere and getting
| its ten per cent tax on that ticket.
That he may collect the money due
the government it is necessary that
each collector should know of every
theater that is operating in his dis
trict There are two requirements
which make it impossible for theater
to give an entertainment without the
authorities knowing about it. In the
first place, it must have a license
| issued by the community in which it
exists. The local police authorities see
to it that no places of amusement run
without the necessary license. In ad-
dition to this, a federal license is re-
| quired of theaters A little moving
| picture show which has a seating
capacity of not more than ESQ must
take out a license for which it pays
the government $50 a year. If it has
more than $50 seats and not more than
/ 500, it must pay 500 a year. If it
has more than 500 and not more than
] 500 seats it must pay $3.50 a year, and
/ if it has more than 500 seats it must
pay $500 a year. The law further
provides that in cities of 5000 or less
the tax will be half the amoupts
named above. This direct tax on
! theaters nets the federal government
nearly a million and half dollars a
/ tic TOW i- hv f7ea n nl tor
itself, while the tax on admission is
paid by the individual who buys the
ticket. The fact that places of amuse-
ment must take out this federal license
gives the government a complete list
of all theaters operated.
How Country Is Divided.
| One of the, sixty-four internal
revenue districts may cover an entire
state or it may cover two states. The
Maryland district, for example. in
| cludeS that state and in addition the
District of Columbia. The collector
has his headquarters at Baltimore, but
he has a deputy collector in Washing
ton. 1t is the dutyNof this deputy col
lector to see that Washington pays all
of its internal revenue taxes. Among
these are the taxes on admissions to
theaters, and this deputy collector
must make sure that everybody who
goes to show is paying the proper
tax and that the tax is finding its way
regularly into the treasury.
The deputy collector at Washing
ton has eighteen revenue agents work
ing under him and the city is divided
among them. They look over the list
! regularly and see that collections do
not fail. In addition to this, they must
I know that each theater is paying in
/ the full and correct amount due the
! government. That they NAV assure
themselves on this point they have the
privilege of going to any place of en-
| tertalnment at any time and examin-
ing the books. This, however, is not
sufficient because they must know
! the benefit of the individual theater
manager.
Protection Thru the Printer
There are many devices to which
| the internal revenue agents resort to
| assure themselves that the govern
ment is not being defrauded. The
most ingenious of these and one for
itself, is that of requiring that all
printers who make tickets for the
| aters shall report all work done to the
collector of internal revenue. Most
| of the theater tickets in the United
! States are printed by four or five firms
that specialize upon their work Not
| more than five per cent of tickets are
printed in local shops. The detail of
clearing all tickets printed thru these
| large establishments is well system
atized and from them the government
gets copies of every bill presented ev-
cry theater manager on their list.
These bills are distributed to the
collectors and the deputy>> collectors
and finally to the individual agents
| who are assigned to the examination
of given theaters. An agents, know
! ing that certain theater had ordered
a million tickets in a year would ex-
pect the sales reported and the stock
of tickets on hand to tallysa million.
| II there is any discrepancy he is sure
| to go to the theater in question and
ask an explanation. If tickets have
been printed by any other agency his
examination Will develop that fact be-
cause all tickets must be subject to
inspection. If tickets were found. the
DIintino of y-hicl1 had haar,