Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1925-08-05

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rectly and through wholesale dis
tributors in the bargain so as to
prevent anyone being missed.
Then the returns began to come
in and Uncle Sol and his staff had
to buckle down to the task Of
checking and compiling all this
data. The smaller dealers sent in
their checks for the gas they had
on hand. The larger dealers and
distributors filed their inventories
and paid their taxes as they made
their sales.
All this time there had been
thousand other details to work out
for the actual collection of the tax.
All the necessary report blanks and
forms had to be compiled and dis
tributed to dealers. All this had to
be done before April Is.
Immediately after that date the
checks began to come in. A total
of $343, 933.61 was collected in the
first month. By this time the gears
in the new machine had all slipped
into mesh and everything was
working smoothly. By now the
work of collection had become
simplified so that the tax was
source as possible. After the first
really being collected as near the
collection had been made on the
gas on hand as indicated on the in
ventories it was not necessary to
make any collections from each of
the 1000 retail dealers in the state
This tax could now be collected
from the wholesale dealers when
brought into the state and sold to
the retailers so that the treasury
departments work was now simpli-
fed to the matter of dealing only
with some 300 Of the larger firms.
This process of simplifcation is
still going on and it is expected
that it will have to deal only with
$50 wholesale dealers in order to
collect the entire tax.
Now another factor had to be
taken into account. The law as en-
acted provided for the exemption
from this tax of all motor fuel to
be used for agricultural purposes
not involving the operation of
motor vehicles on public highways.
Four times a year, in the first
month of each quarter, these claims
for exemption were to be submitted
to the state treasurer accompanied
by an affidavit and the original in
voice showing purchase. 1t was
necessary to work out the machin-
cry for making these refunds.
Two hundred thousand refund
blanks were distributed through
out the state, through banks,
stores, garages, and gas stations,
and placards explaining the method
for securing refunds were posted
in public places all over the state.
To make it easier for the farmers
to get their refunds Mr.. Levitan
asked the cooperation of Wiscon-
sins bankers to assist their farm
customers in making out claims
and to see that they were properly
accompanied by afidavits and in
voices and sent in at the proper
time.
The first avalanche of refund
claims is just now coming into the
treasury office. Each claim is care
fully audited, then sent to the Sec
rotary of states office where the
voucher is drawn after which it is
returned to the state treasurer to
be paid.
Stupendous as has been the work
of organizing the machinery for
the administration of this new law
it has been done with no confusion
and with remarkable efficiency.
Plans had been laid so carefully in
the first place that it has been
necessary to add only four new
clerks to carry on all this work and
the entire work of administration
of Wisconsin's gas tax is now being
handled by these four people.
Mr.. Levitan himself is very
modest about the work he has ac-
complished. you see," he says,
there were 35 other states which
had experimental with gas tax be-
fore we got started so we were able
to avoid all their mistakes and
work out a system which | believe
is more simple and more efficient
than that in any other state. We
are not yet satisfied with ours and
we are working at it continually to
perfect its mechanism. Wisconsin