Evening star., 1925-06-26
INHERITANCE TAX
REVISION IS URGED
Green Would Have Amount
Paid States Deducted
From Federal Levy.

In an effort to end duplication and
overlapping of taxes, Representative
William r. Green of Iowa, chairman
of the House ways and means COM
mittee. proposes that the full
amount of inheritance taxes paid to
the States be deducted from the Fed
eral tax. This new proposal is an
offset to the suggestion that the ma
tional Government withdraw from
the field of taxation and leave ii to
the States, which Chairman Green
contends is impossible.
Some Federal Treasury officials see
possibilities" in this new plan of
Chairman Green to remove overlap
ping taxation as levied by Nation
and States.
In recent conference with Treasury
officials on the new tax bill his COM
mittee will submit to the House In
December Mr.. Green found himself
in substantial accord with them, ex-
Cept on the suggestion for abandon
ment of the Inheritance tax field,
which, he held, Congress would not
consent to do. He expressed the
opinion that Congress would approve
the plan he now advanced, which
seeks broadly the same objective.
Move for Uniformity.
BY permitting estates to deduct
from Federal inheritance taxes the
entire State levies instead of 20 per
cent as at present. he said. the
States would be induced to make
their rates uniform with that fixed
by Congress. In States where this
was done, he explained, the Federal
Government would collect no tax
from estates, while in those having
lower rates it would take the dif
ference. In Florida, where estate
taxes are prohibited by the State
constitution. and in the District of
Columbia. where there is no inheri-
tance tax, the Federal Government
would collect the full tax.
Asserting that the present 25 per
cent allowance for state inheritance
taxes 'ouSht to be increased at least
up to so per cent" Chairman Green
declared he favored allowing a credit
for the full amount paid the State,
contingent upon the State whose cit
izenS get the benefit thereof abandon
ing on its part any taxes on property
forming a part of the estate of a non
resident decedent." Such a program,
II carried out, he asserted, would
put a stop to the overlapping taxes
levied by different States on the prop
erty of nonresident decedents with
the result that, as the law now stands,
some parts of an estate not only pay
tax to the Federal Government and
to the State in which the decedent
resided at the time of his death. but
also to other States on various
grounds"
Would Mean Cut
His plan, he added. would enable
the States to make full use of the
inheritance tax and at the same time
make much lower the total amount
of Federal and State tax paid" and
eventually would make a large reduc-
ton in the national revenues and
possibly wipe out the Federal tax
entirely
Until the States had an oppor-
tunity to take advantage of such A
provision" he said. 1.-The amount of
reduction in the Federal revenues
would not be very large and could
probably be made up through some
provisions against evasion which l
shall propose and hope to have in
corporated in the new law
He added that he was opposed to
coupling with the inheritance tax
plan any suggestion that the States
should in turn abandon the income
tax field, leaving that exclusively for
Federal taxation. He was unwilling,
he said. to interfere in any way with
the levyinS of income taxes by the
States.