Evening star., 1924-05-30
COOLIDGE WILL SIGN
TAX REDUCTION BILL
Saving Of 25 Per Cent on This
Years Income Payments
Declared Assured.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

President Coolidge will sign the
new tax bill which has been passed
by both houses OF Congress. There
Is no longer any uncertainty about It,
Every one will benefit by the reduc-
tion when they come to pay the June
Is installment OF their income taxes.
Also all transactions since January
1 OF this year will come under the
provisions OF the new law when tax
payers make out their returns next
March.
The President will accompany the
new tax bill with q statement point
ing out that the measure lis an i'm
provement over the present law in
that 1t reduces taxes for all. On the
President must express his dissatis-
faction that the bill does not accom-
plish the plan OF Secretary of the
Treasury Mellon originally. proposed.
Some features of the new bill he will
particularly disapprove. but again
Mr.. Coolidge will say what he did
when he signed the immigration bill
that because there is no way to dis
approve a particular section without
vetoing an entire bill he must ac-
cept the good with the bad.
Sees Reduction Achieved.
For campaign purposes. too, Mr..
Coolidge is obligated to profess great
satisfaction over the reduction in
taxes which the measure grants.
Tax revision is the outstanding ac-
complishment of the legislative
session this year. The Republican
party must be In a position to claim
credit for the revision. and that's
why a statement by Mr.. Coolidge
pouring too much cold water on the
new bill would not be politically
effective. The Democrats are getting
is theirs. since its main provisions
were redrafted by Senator Simmons
and Representative Garner. The
Democrats will point out that were
II not for them the tax reduction for
the greatest number of citizens would
not have been so great
The President, by his statement,
will pave the way for further efforts
to improve the tax bill, and he will
be in a position to recommend q re-
peal Of Objectionable sections next
December particularly. and II he should
carry extra weight
Amount to BE Deducted.
To compute the tax reduction,
which becomes Immediately available,
the individual simply subtracts what
he already has paid from the sum
that should have been due II the rs
per cent decrease had been effective
last March, when Mr.. Coolidge asked
Congress to enact a joint resolution
covering 1923 incomes.
In other words, II taxpayer owed
the government $1,000 in tax orig
fnally, the 25 per cent reduction
would have made his tax bill only
$500. But since he has paid a quar-
ter Of his taxes in March-namely
S300-that sum Is to be deducted
from the revised tax total Of 5000
in the three remaining periods OF
the year.
On june IS. therefore. he would
pay only 5000. and on September
Is another 5000 and finally. on De-
cember Is. the last 5000. Were II
not for the complications produced
by the belated passage of the 25 per
cent reduction, this tax bill would
have been divisible into four in
stal1mepts Of $225 each.
The politicians are counting con-
sidexably on the fact that this re-
year. The Republicans perhaps are
even more optimistic. They feel that
as soon as the tax bill is signed and
the country knows what its payments
this year and next year are to be. a
cloud of uncertainty will be removed
from the whole business and econom-
ic situation and that in the case of
budgets for the current year, many
individuals will find themselves with
a fourth of their income taxes vir-
tually saved to them. This will lead,
no doubt, to expenditures of all kinds
which should stimulate the whole
merchantile world.