The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1926-10-29
INCOME TAX IS
FAIREST WAY
TO GET MONEY
Such Tax Distributes Burden
According to Ability to
Pay, ThOresen Says

Increase Of the state income tax
to point where it produces the
lions share Of the money needed
to operate the state is recommend
ed by Thorstein n. Thorcsen, state
tax commissioner, in his report to
the Legislature.
The difficulties Of equally distrib-
uting the tax burden on all classes
of wealth, he contends, are such as
to make almost impos sible the task
of placing the tax burden where it
belongs, on those best able to pay.
THE one solution for prevailing
inequalities may be found in the in
come tax" Thoresen said. "The in
come tax is the one tax that dis
tributes, the burden according to
ability to pay. It tends to relieve
the one who is not now earning an
income from paying tax. How can
any person who is not receiving q
net income pay tax upon his prop
erty, real or personal? Only by
going further into debt. He either
must borrow money to pay his taxes
or, if he is paying his taxes, he is
borrowing money for other neces-
sary purposes. The increasing in
debtedness Of the people Of the north
west is conclusive proof of this. An
other argument against proper
equalization is that if you place the
tax upon the prosperous you penalixc
industry and thrift. Can any intel
ligent person imagine anything 20
ridiculous? Take the reverse of this
proposition, which is the actual fact
today-we arc taxing poverty and in
dcbtedness.
Would Remedy Injustice
II believe that we would 60 q
long way toward remcdying the in
justice now prevailing by abolish
ing the tax on tangible personal
property and substituting therefor
the income tax. In such an event
the present income tax should be
changed so that exemptions would be
not over $500 for single person and
81 900 for . family. Then the rate
should be increased so % to make
up in income tax what is lost by the
exemption of personal property from
taxation. This system is somewhat
in operation in some states today; in
some states they have exempted part
Of the tangible personal property,
such as farm machinery and house,
hold goods, leaving the tax on the
remainder in addition to an income
tax. 1t appears to me that the
abolition of the taxation of tangible
personal propery will be universal in
this country before very long - the
trend Of taxation is in that direc-
tion.
by making the income tax so
universal that it will take in all
citizens, we would. then obtain a
tax from those who pay none under
our present system. Take the per-
son who today is working for a
salary and who owns no real prop
erty, who rents his home and in
vests his earnings !. in securities
any consequence under our. present
tion to pay fair tax than the mer-
chant who owns his store and the
stock therein and who perhaps II
losing money, or the farmer VINO,
year after year, suffers loss on his
farming operations. The only con-
ISOLATION the farmer receives 10 that
the law Of supply and demand pre-
walls and that he must diversity.
This IL very encouraging to him since
he 10 familiar with the fact that in
the states where diversification ID the
greatest the plight of the farmer IL
the worst.
Shoald Abolish Personal Property
Tax
1T is my opinion that the tax on
tangible psrsonl' property should be
abolished and m income tax placed
in lieu thereof, or else make all per-
sonal property, both tangible and in
tangible, subject to the same tax.
sn,s " worlH nn. te 'tc %. es q th
should be done is to enlarge, upon
the income tax 30 that II would reach
more people and thus tend to equal
ixe more fully than IL done under
the present system the taxes upon
&hass WhO aoWp tangible real and
pefsonal properly and those who own
invangibla property"
nIynNrApa nsnvrs ~