Evening star., 1932-04-17
How Germany Taxes Her People
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

Germany has less than half as many
| people as the United States, but, in rela-
| ton to her lower standard of living, COL
| lects more in taxes. The burden of pay
ment of reparations imposed on her by
the treaty of Versailles makes large levies
on the people imperative. The repara-
ton demands take the place Of the
demands of the United States and the
allied nations created by their debts.
Germany wrote off her national debt,
held almost wholly internally, after the
| war. While she has borrowed some
since that time, nearly five-siXthS of
her national debt is held by her own
people, and her whole debt is less than
one-eighth Of the public debt of the
| United States. In view of the fact that
/ Germany was the loser In the World
War, her financial situation seems re-
markably good. Were 1t not for the
reparations she would be in excellent
position.
The taxes Germany collects would
considerably more than pay of her
entire national debt. except for the
reparations, in a single year, whereas
the American national debt is about
four times the American Government s
annual income from taxation.
In view of the fact that Congress now
Is struggling with the framing of tax
bill, a glance at the method by which
Germany taxes her people may be profit
able. Her total receipts are about
81, ,270, 600 900, whereas the United States
tax receipts have been running around
81 900 O0O, 900 for the past few years.
Nearly one-fourth Of the total Ger
man tax receipts come from the income
tax. Like our own income tax, the
rates are graduated in accordance with
income and range from a minimum of
10 per cent to a maximum of 40 per
cent. It will be seen that while the
! highest rate is nowhere near as high
as the 65 per cent tax on large incomes
now being considered in Congress, the
lowest rate, 10 per cent, is much higher
than the American low rate, which is
! only 11a per cent. This is called
broadening the base of taxation. Every
body must contribute. In addition to
the normal 10 per cent tax on low in
comes, single persons must pay surtax
Of 5 per cent as a penalty for living in
single bleSsednesS.
The Crisis Tax.
A supplementary income tax now is
in effect On all incomes. 1t is called
the crisis tax, and its effectiveness,
under present law, extends only from
| July 1, 1901, uI1Ill JItc tIlu VI IAllo year
1t adds from l to 5 per cent more tax
and was designed to meet the financial
! crisis which practically all nations have
been facing for the past year and
which prompted the moratorium. There
is separate corporation tax which is
graduated from 10 to 80 per cent In
the case of wage earners employers
deduct the income tax from their pay
| every pay day.
Unlike the United States, the Ger
man Republic imposes a direct prop
erty tax In the United States this
taxing authority is vested in the States
counties and cities. 1t is a relatively low
tax based on the assessed value of the
property. It ranges from $40 of per
cent to 71a-10 of ! per cent and is
payable quarterly except for agricul-
tural land, in which case a half may be
paid on November is, a date cores
ponding with the harvest. This is the
second largest source of income TO the
German government
Germany has an inheritance tax, too
and also tax on gifts. 1t ranges from