Evening star., 1931-12-15
TEXT OF REPORT BY MAPES COMMITTEE ON FISCAL REIA

out OF the general revenues Of the Dis
trict for maintenance and repairs to
streets"
Streets Subject to Heavy Travel.
So that 1t is certain, notwithstanding
the statement that $2000000 would be
derived from q tax of cents q gallon
on gasoline. that 81 ,20O. 900 additional
money would have to be obtained from
the revenues derived from other sources
In the District In order to meet the
entire expense OF future street improve
ments and maintenance. Certainly no
stronger argument could be made In
support of reasonable increase In the
tax on gasoline than the statement
made by Maj Donovan.
The streets In the District of Column
bia. as well as the streets in other cities,
are subjected to heavy motor vehicle
travel, necessitating the raising by some
fcrm OF taxation a large annual MAIN
tenance fund, in addition to the cost of
widening and the creation of new arte-
rial street highways. It Is only fair,
the committee thinks, that the owners
of motor vehicles in the District should
meet to large extent these costs.
The committee can see no logical rea-
son why the owners Of motor vehicles
located In the District should not pay
a tax on gasoline reasonably compar-
able with the tax levied upon the same
product in other communities, particu-
larly In the communities adjacent to
the District. Their failure to do 50
gives the retail gasoline industry in
the District an unSue advantage.
The committee, therefore. recon-
mends that the present law providing q
2-cent tax on gasoline in the District OF
Columbia be increased to 4 cents a
gallon, which rate Of tax would be less
than the average rate imposed on gaso-
line in the States, and is reporting a
bill TO that effect.
Motor Vehicle Weight Tax.
Un1er the present system Of taxing
automobiles as personal property and
the fiat rate Of 81 registration fee in
the District, the owners Of motor We
hicles In the District have been and are
In highly favored class as compared
with the taxes paid on motor vehicles
In the several States. The nat rate OF
81 registration fee, Irrespective OF the
weight Of the motor vehicle, cannot be
too severely condemned. 1t Is the heavy
cars. such as trucks ana buses, that
DO the most damage to pavenents and
which occupy by far the most space in
the public streets. To charge the same
registration fee for such motor vehicles
rs IS charged for lightweight passen-
! ger car is ridiculous
In ADDITION to this fiat registration
lee OF 81 per car, the District assesses
all cars as personal property. Accord
| ing to the testimony Of Mai. Donovan
before the committee there were a little
over l26000 motor vehicles assessed
the first part Of last year, and
the revenue derived from the assess
ment Of these cars for the one-half year
period amounted to s2l4.1e0. On this
basis the total personal property tax on
that number Of vehicles for the full year
would be s428,3so. It is evi5ent, there
| fore that the total tax. including the
registration fee on motor vehicles, for
1880 would not exceed 100000, or a
total tax of s4.75 per car
10000 Pay Minimum Of 81.
In addition to the $4,000 cars on
which the tax was paid, Mai Donovan
/ stated that there were approxin atelv
$4,000 cars having no value, on which
minimum tax OF 81 per car was paid.
| These cars were still being used on or
! occupying the streets. and certainly
while in use on the public streets should
be required to pay tax comparable
with the tax paid on other cars of ap-
/ HA * ~ SilC Sdulc WelRHL.
The average tax per car in 1880 in
the United States was approximately
Sl4, or about three ana one-half times
the average tax paid upon motor We
/ hlcles in the District Of Colun bia The
committee can see no reason why that
condition should longer obtain. II be-
lleves that the most equitable system OF
taxing motor vehicles is tax based on
tneir weight 1t is the simplest as we'll
as the fairest and most equitable
method OF taxing them. It is con-
ceeed ov every one that the heavier the
vehlcle the more 1t damages the public
rlgnWayS. This fact should be a prime
factcr in the deterr ination OF the
amount OF tax that should be imposed
on motor vehicles
The committee therefore recommends
the enactment OF law providing for a
tax on automobiles based on their
weight as substitute for the present
registration and personal property tax
NV imposed on motor vehicles in the
District II the rate of tax based on
weight snail be fixed so as TO produce
an average OF Sl4 per car, which is the
average tax per car in the United
States, 1t would produce a substantial
increase in the District revenues and
no cne would be hurt. The COMMITTEES
is reporting bill to put this recon-
mendation into effect.
Inheritance Tax.
AT the present time there is no in.
Eerltance or estate tax imposed in the
District Of Columbia. except the Fed
eral estate tax. All States impose either
tax on inheritance or estates EXCEPT
the States of Florida and Alabama.
/ A reasonable rate of tax on inheri-
tances or estates imposed by the Dis
trlct government would produce an av-
erage annual revenue of not less than
S7oO.O00. The committee knows Of no
good reason why such a tax should not
ba adopted in the District, especially As
the Federal Government permits q
credit Of all inheritance taxes paid in
the States, or which may be paid in the
District Of Columbia. up to 90 per cent
of the Federal estate tax
The committee believes that the es-
tate tax is preferable to the inheritance
tax because of its simplicity. 1t has the
advantage that the tax may be COM
puted Immediately after the value of
the net taxable estate Is determined.
This results In q material saving in
time and expense. both to the estate and
to TIE government that imposes the
tax. Furthermore. it is easy for the
testator to determine in advance the
total tax burden upon the estate, and
therefore he can carry out exactly his
intentions as to the net amount which
the several benef1ciaries are to receive.
In TIE case of inheritance taxation
the amount of tax depends upon the
number and relationship Of persons who
receive the property. These facts. how
ever, cannot be determined as to the
remainder until after the death of the
life tenant. 1t often happens, there
fore, that it is necessary TO POSTPONE
the taxation of the remainder until the
life tenants death. In some cases arbi-
trary rules of determining the tax have
been adopted, and this quite often works
hardships. Such complicated problems
as these are avoided in imposing q tax
on the estate.
The estate tax has the advantage of
simplicity and of relative speed with