The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1934-03-12
TAX ON MAIL
ORDER TRADE
IS UNOPPOSED
Merchants of State Have
Made no Move Against
Federal Measure
The rimes-News Bureau
Sir Walter Hotel


North Carolina Merchants associ-
alton has as yet taken no action
with regard to the bill now in
congress and already reported
favorably to the senate by the in
terstate commerce committee, to
allow states having state sales tax
laws to impose the sales tax on
interstate retail sales and mail
order sales, Willard l.. Dowell,
executive secretary of the North
Carolina Merchantsasso citation,
said yesterday. He also said that
the merchants are not fighting
the bill but so far are not favor
ing it.
IF we have to have sales tax
in North Carolina as a permanent
tax l would like to see such a bill
passed, since it would undoubted-
ly tend to protect the merchants
in the state from competition
with mail order houses and mer-
chants in other states" Dowell
said. However, l feel that the
enactment Of this bill would tend
to make the sales tax more diff
cult to remove and | am in favor
of removing the sales tax entire
ly. For this reason / have not
yet made up my mind whether |
am in favor of the bill or not and
l think the merchants had better
go slow in making up their minds
before announcing they are in
favor of the bill"
When asked if the merchants
in the state still believed that the
sales tax was driving much bust
ness from the state, as they
claimed during the 1888 legisla-
ture, when they opposed the sales
tax so bitterly, Dowell said:
"Of course the sales tax is
driving business out of the state
at least $5O,000,000 worth of
retail business a year, according
to the admission of Commission
er of Revenue Maxwell and Di-
rector Harry Mcmillan, who have
said this bill would increase the
revenue from the sales tax at
least S1,50O,0O0 year, which is
8 per cent of $50,000,000. In
fact, it is probably driving more
than that much business out of
the state"
When asked if he meant that
the merchants would rather lose
more than $50,000,000 worth of
business a year to other states
than have this bill enacted. mere
| ly because they thought it would
make it harder to secure the re-
peal of the sales tax, Dowell said ::
"No, l do not mean that. |
think if the merchants could feel
that this bill would increase their
business $50,000,000 a year with
out impairing their chances of
getting the state sales tax law
repealed, they would undoubtedly
be for it. However. I don't think
the bill is constitutional or that
it could be enforced. And l do
think that if the bill should be
passed. it would make it much
more difficult to secure the re-
peal of the sales tax laws in the
states that now have them"
Despite the fact that the bill
has been reported favorably and
is now before the senate, Dowell
thinks it still has a long. hard
road to travel, stating that there
is much opposition to it in many
other states. Commissioner Max
we'll and Director Mcmillan, who
were in Washington last week APP
pearing before the committee
holding hearings on the bill, re-
ported that more than 20 states
were urging the enactment of the
bill and that there seemed to be
little or no opposition to it except
in those states where the large
mail order houses are located.
They pointed out that the large
mail order houses in Illinois,
where a 2 1-2 per cent sales tax
is in effect, are now charging this
sales tax to customers throughout
the United States, with the result
that persons in North Carolina
who think they are avading the 3
per cent sales tax here by buying
from an Illinois mail-order house,
are paying a 2 1-2 per cent sales
tax on what they buy that goes to
Illinois rather than North Caro-
lima.
Director Mcmillan has received
telegram from Fred E. Stewart
of Sacramento. Calf. president
of the National Association of
Tax Administrators. which is
backing the bill whole heartedly:
expressing his pleasure that bill
had been reported favorably to
the senate and stating that Gov
ernor Rolph of California, was
sending kilograms to the gov
ernors of all the states affected
by the bill asking their coop
Grafton in contracting state repre-
Santativac in CONGRESS-"