The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-05-15
LUXURY TAXES
Amount PAID Cor Luxury Taxes
indicates That the Coun-
try nj Oh the Peak Of
g ,Extfayagance

rate Of 31i2e0,96o.oo0'a a year. judged
by the amount Of luxury taaes. aggre-
eating $10t5O9,000 a. month-whict
are being collected by William II. Ed
.wAras, United States Collector Of In
sernal Revenue for Manhattan. In
February, according to the: Collector,
the government received from his Of
fice 80. oe,6oo more IN luxury taxes
than was paid ii any previous month
in the history df the department. The
month Of April probably will exceed
them all. The receipts, he says, have:
been mounting higher and higher for
six months. - = Z, = :
e e what some people. can the Orgy
:of spending, has not exhausted itself,
said. Mr.. Edwards today, but MY men
ia their. talks With Aymerchants-ac ard oth1
s4ts wheYay fhasreat bulk sof the tax
es; HaVe been told that the peak Of
,extfayagants; seems - to. haxe: been
reached and that a period OF retrench-
rnent is close at.hand.
1--WE hear7a lot about the income and
excess profits tax. that fails ,Gae il. The
spring of every year and about the
hardships Of meeting it but the fact
is that the steadiest tax, and one which
is least felt ,by the public and-of which
we hear very little is the luxury. inn-
post. The poorer chap who. buys his
girl an ice cream soda doesn't sSrum-
bic at the penny Or two tax any more
than does the rich youth who presents
his f1ance With q diamond tiara u:
a touring car. Neither misses it as
the item is 50 small as compared with
the expenditure.
"a kings ransom vas spent for
candy last December but the biggest
revenue came from dealers in jewelry,
furs and automobiles. The theatres
showed. that In January they did an
unusually prosperous business. When
persons star; 10 econonize they Us
ually cut out khnsements but in jan
uary, in the borough of Manhattan
alone, s78s,9Si.43 was paid in taxes
Multiply that by ten and you will get
some idea Of how much Father. Knick-
erbocker and his guests are paying to
be entertained at just the theaters
There are no indications Of any panic
in these figures. The man who said:
Always be a bull on the great .. S..
A. seems to be vindicated.
IAN interesting thing about the lux
ury tax is that more revenue is besre
derived from ice cream sodas and 9TH
er snail sales which carry q penny OK
two of tax than there is from the sale
Of motor cars, diamonds and other
1s1xuries. Druggists paid a large sum
on expensive perfumes and cosmetics
Every manufacturer, producer or I'M
porter is required to make such re-
turns as will clearly show each tax
able transaction in the sale Of certain
goods and these are verified by rev.
enue officers. Section so4 of the Rev
enue Act of 1918. provides that 'on
and after May l, 1919 the tax OF 10
per cent shall be levied and collected
on iuxuries, including many kinds OF
expensive articles in daily use. In the
sale of these articles the dealer acts as
a collection agent for. the government.
Other. taxes are. paid in the form OF
stamps.
Onc OIL Ine IedSOlS 1ol -: l@Ai@"6
off in the receipts og income and eX-
cess profits taxes this year was the
deduction which the taxpayer made
for sums which be paid to the govern
ment for luxury, proprietary and 9TH
er taxes. Here is an illustration. Let
US say that man takes his wife to
the theater twice a week. He pays
IS each time he goes for two tickets.
The tax on each Of the seats IS ~
cents. On four seats week he pays
s1.ao and in one year $3.50. He is
privileged to deduct that from his net
income before computing his income
tax. The same rule would apply to
any other tax he may have paid to
the government during the year.
person. however. is required to prove
that he actually expended the money
for luxurics if any question is raised
an his return. There have been com
paratire!y few attempts at evasion. In
fact. the amount received by this Of
flee in luxury. ard other taxes is a.
monument to the honesty Of the maj
ority of the people Of this great CITY,"