The Washington herald., 1921-02-27
Referendum of National
Association Shows
Opposition.
SALES LEVY FOUGH1
Membership Also Against In
crease in Income Assess
ments.

been made by the membership or
the Chamber of Commerce of the
United States in a national referen-
dunn vote. the result of which was
made public here yesterday. The
ballot was taken on a report of the
Chambers Committee on Taxation
advancing hfteen proposals for
changes in the present method Of
Federal tax levies.
Although the committee recon-
mended substitutes for the excess
profits tax, the vote Of the Cham
ber's membership on these pro-
posals was not conclusive con-
siderable majority voted against an
Increase in income taxes. proposed
as a means Of substituting some Of
the revenues derived from the en-
cess-profits tax, and at the same
time there was a majority vote
against any form of sales tax. sug-
gested both as a substitute for and
/ in addition to other forms Of tax.
Excise Tax Favored.
n proposdi thaN excise taxes be
levied partly to take the place Of
the excess profits tax was carried
| In the Chambers referendum sys-
TEN a two-thirds vote is necessary
to carry. The propositions submit
ted and the vote on each follows:
]. The excess profits tax should
be repesIed-for. LIS: against. a..
Carried.
>. Revenues now derived from
the excess profits tax should be OBJ
tained mainly from taxes on tn-s
comes-for. 57l; against, 1000. Not
carried.
,. There should be excise taxes
upon some articles Of wise use but
not Of first necessity-for, I.sI7:
against. 5OL Carried.
4. should a sales tax he levied
7 instead Of the taxes mentioned in
} propositions two and three.-for,
7Ol: against. Sss. Not carried.
S. Should a sales tax be levied
In. addition TO such taxes as are
mentioned in propositions two and
three7-for, 763; against. Ss4. Not
carried.
6. Members voting in favor OF
question four or question five are
requested to indicate the type OF
D
(a) A general turnover tsx-for.
5l1.
Ob) A limited turnover ,ax-for.
$50.
(cD 4 retail sales tax-for, 5li.
Z. There should be a moderate and
graduated undistributed earnings
tax on corporations - for. $50:
against. 1.O63. Not carried.
s. Each individual stockholder OF
corporation should pay his own
normal tax-for. 6s3; against. s5s.
Not carried.
Income Tax Chanees
9. Income from any new issues OF
securities which may lawfully be
made subject to Federal tax should
be taxable-for. 1856; against, 25S.
Carried.
10. American citizens resident
abroad should be exempt from the
aAmerican tax upon incomes derived
abroad and not remiitted to the
United States-for, l.252; against.
I5s. Carried.
IL. Profits arising from sales Of
capital assets should be allocated
over the period in which earned and
taxed at the rates for the several
years in the period-for, 1,l11:
IL. An exchange of property OF a
like or similar nature should be
considered merely as a replacement
for. l.547; against, 142. Carried.
13. Net losses and inventory losses
in any taxable year should cause re-
determination of taxes on income of
the preceding year-for, 1850;
against, Se2. Carried.
IL. Ascertainment by the govern
ment OF any tax based on income
should precede payment-for. 1915:
against. 47s. Carried,
Is. Administration of income tax
alton should be decentralization.
1921; against. $50. Carried.
business Mer U.ised.
The vote makes IL clear that busi-
ness men are united in their view
that the excess profits tax hampers
business operations and retards the
, progress OF readjustment Among
the objections to the tax as pointed
out by the committee are that Il
produces inequalities: that IL is dif-
ficult of administration; that price
reductions will decrease revenues
from this source. and that the tax
encourages extravaganza.
A striking reaction was shown IN
the vote against increasing income
taxes. IL was obvious TO the voters
that such Increases would fall on
the middle class OF incomes. since
little more can be derived from
smaller incomes and because taxes
already are so high on the larger
incomes that those receiving large
incomes are investing in tax free
securities and thus defeating the
| purpose of the tax.
In the committees proposal thai
excise taxes be put on some articles
Of wide use. but not OF first neces-
sity, the idea was held that such
tax would be a supplementary levy,
This recommendation rec eived
slightly more than the two-thtrds
votes necessary to carry.
i The ma prity voting against any
form Of sales tax was q considerable
one. Organizations voting for the
sales tax were asked TO indicate
whether they preferred a general
turnover tax and as between a gen-
eral turnover tax and a retail sales
tax a small majority favored the
latter.
|. The committee submitting the re-
port itself opposed the sales tax.
but put the proposition to n vote
because of the wide interest In pro-
poshls that have come from q num-
Der of quarters for a tax of this ma
ture. The referendum as Il went
4 out 20 members contained the best
arguments that have been made
4 -. A