White Pine news. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1920-1923, 1921-10-09

4 1nlOnnf OF DuSlifSN I~IGISdtltu#
which IS alse being, advocated in this
country by Senator Smoot and 9th
ers. This tax il ] per cen IN the
amount of each transaction. The
merchant or business mar IS sup
posed To a this tax. but IN reality
the has 10 stand the gaf
II he has MS tailor build him a suit
of cloths for 500 he rays SOL for
il. 50 the buyer not only pays the
price of the article but also the tax.
In the evening the wearied French
man seeks a bit of recreation from
the tax worries of the day. bus
whether he goes to the theater. a
movie show or a dance hall he pays
a 10 per cent tax on the admission
fec: and IL he kicks at this and con-
eludes to stay at home and go 10 bed
he has 10 pay a tax on the amount
of electricity consumed by the time
he slips on his nightie and hits the
hay the room is rather close. 30 he
decides 10 have "A bit of fresh air.
for. praise the Lord. the air Is not
taxed. - he opens the window. But
he does no escape the tax: there Is
Z tax on the window. In France a
tax is levied on all doors and win
dows in n building to allow com
mu~nication between the interior and
exterior. Every house and ever
thing habltable is taxed under this
law. even II there is no person aetu-
ally occupying it at the time. The
taN IS supposed 20 he paid ny the
landlord. but IL he fails to do so the
tax is collected from the tenant. il
there Is one. So the consume gets IL
again In Paris n building having,
say. twelve outside doors and win
dows IS taxed about 2 francs for each
opening. or about sf.75 per annnm
at normal exchange rates.
SO the poor Ffenehman goes 10
sleep. per chance TO dream. in un-
taxed peace: fer NJ to date no tax
has been levied On sleep and dreams.
But all the while he sleeps the good
old income tax is working overtime.
and at the end of the wear he paws a
tax or whatever income he derived
from his labor. his interest. his rents
or his business. This income tax
will never return a large revenue n
France. nothing in comparison TO
what is derived in the United States
and England, fer the reason thaf
France. unlike the aforementioned
countries. is a country of small for
tunes. small land wne and small
farmers.
According to the figures recently
published by the French department
OF finance there are only ISS people
III France having an income Of over
5000 Eat present exchange rates) /.
there are about half a million with
incomes between $500 and St.5On.
The official figures show that In
1920 the total number of persons
paying income tax wa 52s,96I.
while the total income tax collected
amounted to only about s7SS.t30.-
OpO. az compared with the billions
OF such tax collected in the United
States ana England.
Bun he income tax nevertheless
adds TO the burden: let us take a
concrete case. for example.
Suppose "A lawyer or "A business
man has an annual income of So
goo. and lives in a decent apartment
IN Paris. for which he pays a rental
nf $500 a year: he will pay in taxes.
approximately
The tax on personal property 1870
The tax on doors and windows 10
The tax on wages, salary, fees,
etc IS per cent? - $50
The general income tax (about )
per cent? zoo
The tax on pianos. servants. etc. %
MUNICIPAL taxes " 20
Tota,
These. however, represent direct
taxes only: in addition he must add
the indirect taxes, which are paid in
directly on food. drink, tobacco, gen.
eral purchases, railroad trips, taxis.
insurance. investments, theatnrs.
movies. grocers and merchants bills
or statements, servants, electricity
n other items, some of
which we have referred to above. For
these indirect taxes, according to
Mon. Lausanne. we can without n
exaggeration add about $1,000 to the
above direct tax bill. so that the av-
erage Frenchman, under one form
or another, pays in taxes n mini
mum OF t~wo-thirds OF his income
And still we American citizens howl
about heavy taxes, Is there anv
dear reader VINO wants to take nm
his residence and citizenship IN
France. even though there Is no
eighteenth amendment in force
there Don't all speak at once.