The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1924-09-15
i. S. SMOKES 81
BILLION C|GARETS
DURING ONE YEAR
Tax on FagS Amounts to
S2O3,777.498 During
Fiscal 1924,
Times WASHINGTON Bureau,
1922 NFIr York Are.

WASHINGTON, epI l9--JOSepl
S. Mccoy, the veteran actuary of
the Treasury Department. can read
the Nations palm between the lines
of a rather ~dry-looking little Stats
teal report called Internal Revenue
Collections. Fiscal Year 1924" which
the Government issued this week.
For McCoys jib is to know all
about Uncle Sans taxes; and. be
Ieve us. neighbOr-McCoy does.
Year after year he has estimated
the staggering national tax receipts
many months III advance. and when
the collections are made his EST
mates are found TO be only a frac
ton Of l per ent off.
That said Mccoy. as he indi-
Gated an item OF $2O3. 77T.43S col
1ected as cigaret taxes. means hat
the people of the United States
smoked 67.925. 799. 900 cigarets. as
compared with so. 9O5. PAS 900 the
year previous. when the collections
were only S1S2, us. 735. The tax ou
cigarets is So per 1000. so just figure
it out for yourself"
Cigaret Tax, Pulse of Prosperity
On every cigaret you smoke you
are really paying three-tenths of /
cent in taxes to incl eSam. On a
15-cent pack the Governments sha@e
Is about 6 cents.
Cigarette taxes are the real
pulse of prosperity" Mccoy de
clared. because when men are
flush they light a cigarette, take a
few puffs, throw it away and light
another; when they are hard up
they conserve cigarettes by making
each one last longer. Despite the
fact hat the number Of cigarettes
consumed last year increased 7,00O.-
900, 900 I doubt if the number of
smokers increased as much as l per
cent"
AS further evidence of prosperity.
Mccoy showed that smokers are
shifting from 'roll-their-owns" to
the ''ready-mades." The tax on
cigarette papers showed a decrease
of from 1905. $50 to 1929 92.
More Spent on Movies
On movies, baseball games. the
alters and other forms of amusement
the Nation spent $S%54.S34.OOO last
year-for both admissions and
taxes-as c~ontrasted with ISL. 1926. 900
the year before. Uncle Sans
amusement taxes, rOuhlyg 10 per
cent Of the ticket cost, yielded ST.
1928 in 1924, as against 70.175.-
147 in 1928. On July l Of this year.
however, the Government Cancelled
the tax on all amusement tickets
costing so cents or less; therefore, If
your movie is still collecting taxes
on such admissions you are being
robbed.
For automobiles and accessories
the Nation spent s3.31S, 3OS .OOO-in
purchase price plus tax-in 1924, as
compared with $1,000. 100. 900 in
1928. The tax is 5 per cent. Col
1ections were S15S, ola, zoe and S144.-
90.490, respectively.
This really means a bigger in
crease in the number Of cars sold
than the figures indicate" explained
Mccoy, because the price of many
autos has been reduced"
On candy the Government collect
ed s11, s03, 703 in 1924 and s11.315,-
465 in 1923. These figures. though,
do not mean much as very little Of
the ak on candy is ever collected
because Of the difficulty involved in
checking up on so many small es-
Establishments.
Fewer CamerOs Sold
Taxes collected on cameras and
lenses dropped from $751; 66 to
S717, 915, showing that fewer are be-
ing sold. But kodakers are using
them more, as attested by the fact
that the tax on films and plates in
creased from s71S.491 to 0SS8, $50.
Jewelry, watches, clocks. opera
glasses, etc. yielded the Government
S22,634,406 in 1924. as compared to
s20.297,S75 in 1923.
The cost of collecting taxes ran
about S1.52 for each 800 collected.
or. if the prohibition bureau were
left out, about $1.22 per 800.
The prohibition unit is the Inter
nal Revenue Bureaus biggest iabil-
fly, as It collects for the Treasury
an amount equal to only about II
per cent of what it spends. Last
year the Government collected $685.
395 under the prohibition laws and
--A 2 E1n nm F1- NhoTr anfnrno-