The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1920-03-04
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

lO0pyflgnt 19ZO by Inc Reformer.) i
(This is the first of a series of three
articles on how Uncle Sam can tell
whether your income tax return is cor
rect.)
/ WASHINGTON. March 4.-People
have often wondered whether the
| United States government would ever
| have the time or the staff to examine
the millions of income tax sheets which
have. been filed in the last two years
or will be filed in the future. Who
does the checking up?. And how care
fully is it done9 What happens if you
make an honest mistake? What hap
pens if the government catches a tax
| evader?
These questions are no doubt being
asked everywhere as the people of the
| United States prepare their income tax
returns which must be in the hands of
collectors of internal revenue by March
| Is. Inasmuch as every unmarried man
| in the United States who earns $40
a week and every married man or
/ woman or individual who is the head
of family earning $40 week must
| file statement of income regardless
of whether there is any tax due, plenty
of trouble and embarrassment can be
! avoided by wage earners, merchants,
farmers, professional men, landlords,
business partners and corporations by
knowing in advance just "what Uncle
Sam has on you.'
In the first place every factory,
store, wholesale or retail business, in
fact, every employer must make out
a list of his employees and the wages
or salaries they get, provided the sum
in each case is above 500 week That
means the United States government
gathers together separate sheets of pa
per on which information is given con-
corning everybody s income above $15
These statements are carefully filed and
thousands of government employees are
at work daily looking to see whether
John Smith, whose employer sent in q
statement saying the employe had re.
/ ceived more than $15 a week through
out the preceding year actually filed
a return of his own to the government
and paid the taxes due.
But, YOU will say, the employer neeG
not file return for his employees. II
he doesn't, he will have to pay take,
himself for that sum of money because
when the income tax experts look ovei
his books-and they can do so at any
time-they will regard the amount OF
money eliminated by him as so mucl
profits. And employers wouldn t liki
that. SO the employer is check OF
the employee so far as the government
is concerned.
But it goes further than that l
| YOU received more, than $15 a week o
$500 q year from any business trans
action, whether from the sale of Ian,
or securities or property of any kin,
or any class of services from teach
ing nights to working on the side afte
business hours, the man who paid vo
more than $500 must tell the govern
ment about it. And a staff of ex
perts works all the time making a lis
of persons who didn t file returns. An
some day representative of the gov
ernment will call on few hundre
thousands of our people and hand ther
Y a tax return already made out, while
they neglected to do themselves, onl
the taxes will be much larger becaus
T there will be penalty for non pay
ment of taxes long overdue.
There is special division of the in
come tax bureau which does nothin
!, but think up penalties on persons VIII
don t file the correct kind of return
OF course, allowance is made for erro
and for reasonable excuses in case O
delayed returns. People who are sic
|. or absent from the country and ca
j make sworn statement to that effec
which Is convincing to the collector o
d internal revenue in their respective dis
trlcts can be exempted from penalt,
l But the government has a staff of es
t perts who can sometimes tell at
e glance whether a case looks suspicion
and the return sheet is turned over
special investigators who make a carr
/, full examination of the case in que.
Ii ton.
The government S aim is to get co
rect tax returns. If you have pai
J more than you should the governmer
r will call your attention to it Just {
quickly as if you have paid too littl
The secretary of the treasury and IL
commissioner of internal revenue a,
authorized to accept compromise Sc
Elements. Where there is plainly l
d intention to defraud the povernme,
! anu NutTe the inlSJdhp Is Simply one
y computation, compromises are daily b
ISL ing accepted.
-, Hundreds of millions of dollars a
., collected that way And the impor
G. ance of it is this: so long as the 90
/ ernment doesn't get all the money
has estimated would be given to it
rs taxpayers, just SO long must taxes
~. kept at high levels in order to D,
IL national debts. Anyone who evad
rel his taxes, therefore, imposes burd
on his neighbor. 1t prolongs both t
period of taxation as well as the G
of high cost of living.
: Fully $4,000 people are employed
J. the United States government to che
up income tax returns. Three thor
90. and are in Washington and 1000
the field OF the $4,000 Others,
majority are engaged throughout /
year in the task of getting inform
ton about taxpayers. 1t is an int
rs i've study of each geographical unit
population in the United States by
. most elaborate statistical system e