The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1920-03-05
By DAVID LAWRENCE.
lie Reforne

Copyright 1920 by The Reformer.
(This is the second of series of ar
ticles on how the government gets
after the people, who forget to make
income tax returns or fail to pay the
proper amounts
WASHINGTON, March Some
/ day the persons who thought Uncle
Sam would never have time to check
up on individual returns will be just
as surprised when they are indicted
and punished as the persons who never
dreamed that certain kinds of graft
entirely unrelated to income taxes
would be exposed to public view.
There are, for instance, plenty of
laws on the statute books to stamp
out political corruption. Yet the gov
Iernment may never have had the evil
dence. Suppose firm has been &C
| customed to paying a few thousand
dollars to somebody as "political
pull > in federal, state, county or city.
That item might be uncovered as an
investigation is made of what consti-
tutes proper salary allowances. The
evidence could be turned over to an
other branch of the government or to
state authorities for prosecution.
| Special experts are working with
United States attorneys in the pros
ecution of cases in which tax returns
have been falsified. Already there
have been indictments, and Jail sen.
fences. The government is not publish.
ing all its information, but in one rath
er populous section of the country, il
is estimated that at least $100,00000
in taxes haven t been paid that should
have been paid.
| Slowly but surely government inves
tigators are getting data. The treas
ury department agents have the au
thority to subpoena all persons wht
have records of dividends paid. Fo
instance, the government can, if i
chooses, ask for man s check bool
land can get from his bank the amour
of his deposits. AS a general rule
that ism IT done unless fraud is suspect
ed and evidence is being gathered 70
a possible prosecution.
| 1t took so agents of the government
recently nearly three months in tn
field to audit big account and some
thing like $40,000,000 was recovere
when the job was over.
resident aliens can't escape an
more than can aliens who try to leav
the United States without paying thei
taxes. A special machinery has bee
devised to act in emergencies Their
are certain ports of the United State
| &c q -
fulness are stationed. They know no,
to get court orders in iiffy to stop a
individual from going across the inte
national line or getting his passports fl
an ocean voyage if income taxes ha>
(not been paid Not long ago, grou
of foreigners left the country witho,
paying their taxes. They complaine
that they didn t understand the Law
and gave every evidence of not wantir
to have any representatives take Il
matter up for them either. So the go
eminent merely began attaching Il
property they left behind and wou
have sold it if the individuals in que
ton hadn't voluntarily given Their
selves up and paid the taxes due.
amounted to several millions of do
= lars.
Information about every conceivab
;. activity from natural resources,
farming to shipping to manufacture
every phase of human endeavor-
recorded by the government through i
come tax returns. Access to 9th,
government records is available bl
nobody else in the government, no of
er department or bureau can get no
of income tax returns. These are car
fully guarded from prying eyes, Y
a mass of statistical information ,
incalculable value will be ready with
the next two or three years. Mass fl
ures will be given out some day shey
ing the average cost to run a baker
a candy shop, a shoe factory, ste
mill, and the profits made in each gror
and the costs of production in eaC
classification.
In fact, that is one of the ways Il
government detects false returns A
the bakers are grouped, all the butcher
all the doctors, all the lawyers, all Il
farmers in certain sections of the cou
try, all the cotton growers. Each hi