Evening star., 1934-02-18


! do not favor S.n,to, R.ed
that kind of a
sale tax. The sales tax favor would
actually lift from the shoulders of
the average American a substantial
share Of the taxes he is now paying
to the Federal Government, take them
almost altogether from the shoulders
of the poor, and place them for the
most part on the backs of the big
gest spenders.
Lists UntaXable Items.
Before I describe this tax, let me
list the things which would not be
taxed at all. I would exempt entirely
from any general manufacturers sales
tax these important items in the
family budget:
l. All neither the farmer
who raises it nor the consumer who
buys ii would pay any sales tax on
foods.
2. All clothing Except luxury
articleS) the manufacturer
who makes it nor those who buy and
wear it would pay any tax on clothing.
8 All medicines would be completely
exempt from taxation.
l. All fuel used for household pur-
poses would be free likewise from any
tax
Considering that nine-tenths of the
family budget is represented by food,
clothing and fuel, rent and medical
attention, it will be instantly apparent
that any general sales tax which
omits these items would be less of a
burden than they are now paying
in the form of sales taxes. There
would be no tax on rent under my
plan, of course.
have told what I would not tax:
Food, moderate priced clothing, medi-
cines, rent, fuel used in the homes.
Wants Per Cent Levy.
What I do propose to tax is the
first sale of all other products and
manufactured articles at the rate of
2 per cent of the sale price.
To illustrate how it would work
out, let us suppose that the average
income is $4,000 a year. That is a
little high, particularly in these days,
but will serve for present purposes.
Nine-tenths of that income would
not be taxed at all. The total sales
taxes paid on the remaining tenth
would be 2 per cent of 5000, or 81
year. And that small sum would
neither be seen nor felt. 1t would be
distributed so widely-a cent here,
10 cents there-and so completely ab-
sorbed in the price of the product
that the consumer would never see
1t, wouldn't know he was paying it,
and certainly wouldn't regard it as
q burden in any sense.
1t is difficult to estimate the total
yield of such tax at the moment
considering the unsettled condition Of
business. In normal times, when most
of our people are employed and we
are all feeling more cheerful than We
have been in recent years, it would
yield several hundred million dollars
a year to the Federal Treasury, and
In very good times might yield as
much as a billion dollars.
Now isn't that a more sensible tax
than some of the wholly unfair, ex-
cessive and discriminatory taxes we
are now paying!
Same as Processing Tax.
Perhaps you don't know that you
are paying sales taxes now-they call
them processing taXes-on all the pork
and pork products you eat; on corn,
on wheat, on the products of grains
such as flour, bread, crackers and
cereals; on cotton and all cotton
products, on paper bags and on many
competing products. Some of these
taxes range as high as 100 per cent
of the original price Of the product.
You don't realize you are paying them
because they are paid as part of the
price. You know only that socks,
handkerchiefs, shirts, sausage, pork
roaSts, -four and many other articles
Of food and clothing cost you more
than they did year ago And much
more than they would cost you if my
plan for a very small general sales
tax, with food and clothing exempted,
were substituted.
Perhaps you don't know that you
are paying right now tax Of 3 per
cent on automobiles and 2 per cent
on accessories, of 5 per cent on radio
receiving sets, Of 5 per cent on house
hold refrigerators, 10 per cent on
sporting goods, firearms and cameras,
and taxes at varying rates, all higher
than the tax I propose, on candy,
chewing gum, matches, soft drinks,
gasoline, electricity and telegraph
and telephone messages. You pay a
tax on your bank checks.
If you have climbed into the class
OF persons who own stocks and bonds
and have safe deposit boxes, you are
taxed on all of these things. But we
are not concerned with the investor
now, but with the American family
which has Just about enough to get
along and keep the children in school.
And this family pays more taxes now,
under the present system of sales
taxes, than it would under my pro-
posal. I hope I have made that clear.
(copTieht 1894. by the North American