New Britain herald., 1920-02-13
LABOR NOW KING
 TAX LISTS SHOW
Internal Revenue Collector Has
 Figures Of Interest.

 William H. Edwards. United States internal revenue collector for the Second and Third districts of New York, in whose districts, this year, . more than $1.500,00O.000 will be i; gathered up for Uncle Sam. High wages and profita ble over | time says MT. Edwards, have raised to the income tax-paying list such workers as longshoremen, garment makers, paperhangers, railroad brake men, chauffeurs, sailors, truck drivers and piano movers. And don't forget the chorus girls, the movie stars and the hotel walters" declared the collector, add ing that some of the latter are mak- ing more than $5,O0O a year in tips ] alone. Street car conductors and motor men in Brooklyn, for instance, he l said, have made as much as $50 q week, and, if their yearly income ex- ceedS $1, GOO, for single man, or $2.000, for the head of a family, they will be required to contribute their share toward the cost of running the i government. MT. Edwards cited q few instances-without, of course,
 mentioning any nameS-of boot blacks, milk wagon drivers and bell : boys who, in 1919, earned in excess of their exemption and will be re- | quired to file returns.
 Payment of the income tax began 1 on January i and will continue until midnight of March 15, at which time all returns must be in to escape the , possibility of a maximum fine for de- l linQuency. While Collector Edwards was opening his mail the other day 1 out fell a check for s2, ,sS3. 515.39, rep resenting the payment of corpora ton tax with penalty and interest.
 The next letter he opened was from
 Montclair, N. J., which is also in his district. It had been registered 10
 pay an income tax Of $1.37. A recent caller at the collectors l office was a woman whose net income
 was 65 cents. Her tax amounted 10
 four cents. She wanted to know if
 she would be permitted to make the ! payments ''quarterly-' When told 1 she could. she smiled and said she guessed she would pay it all at once, 1 handed over four shining pennies Ind | took her receipt.
 !. Another patriotic citizen--foreign-
 born--f1led a careful return showing
 that he had no income which was sub
 ject to taxation. At the bottom Of
 his return was the following notation:
 ''No tax due, but would like to pay 1 some tax and enclose for S1Oo." ... l Collector Edwards said that, under the law, he was not permitted to Nc-
 cept the check, but that he forwarded
 it to Commissioner Roper ill Wash l ington to dispose of he saw fit
 This year the income tax rate is
 less than last, MT. Edwards said, the
 normal rate being i per cent on the
 first s4,0o0 Of net income above the [ exemption and per cent on the re-
 maining net income instead of and
 12 per cent, as in 1918.
 ! "Ofhand," said the collector, lone
 would hardly think that a longshore-
 man came within the requirements of
 the income tax law. Certainly, he did
 not a few years ago when many Of 1 them found it hard to make living i In the past year or two, however, 1 many longshoreme en have been mak. ing from $3,000 to s5,000 a year.
 1 The income tax also hits some
 members of the theatrical profession l pretty hard. Some of these actors, l including motion picture stars, per- 1 haps make as high as s200 and $500 l a week for six months in the year. l They live well and by the time their l income tax payment is due may be ! out of an engagement. They are con- l fronted with a good-sized tax with 1 out any immediate means. It is then 1 up to them to get it.
 1 Last year my investigators found
 many diamond merchants have been
 doing business in this country for l four or five years without paying
 taxes We got after them aud c. ! creased our returns by moro than
 S10oo,ooO. Some of the. actresses
 who were delinquent last year said k they did not pay because they could 1 not figure out just how much they 1 were exempt because of the cost or
 their gowns. taxicabs and other lux
 uries. 4 50 per cent penalty was inn ] posed because of their failure to pay
 when the taxes were due
 l Income taxes" said the collector
 should be figured as liability just
 as insurance, interest on a mortgage 1 or your winters coal bill. Then when
 the time comes for payment 1t will
 not be hardship. Nearly 10000 per ] sons were fined last year for failure l to file returns. A certain stockhr oker
 made s200,0O0. He filed his return 1 showing tax of S40,000. He default ! ed in his payment, however, and in a
 personal interview with me said he
 didn't have the money. A per cent.
 penalty was imposed and he. hustled
 around and got the money. His fail-
 ure to provide for the tax cost him
 just. s2,000."
 ! The Second and Third New York