Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1935-04-26

O.: | suppose gasoline is eXem-
pit becaus it!already is taxed?
A.: Correct.

a.. correct.
O.: What il | buy an article on
contract before May 1, yet have TO
make payments afterwards? Do !
! owe the seller money, and does he
have to pay sails tax
a.: That depends. If you actuall
own the article, that is, have title
to it before May l, it wont be taxed
If it's not wours until after the
deadline. you must, pay tax. But
you are considered the owner If you
| have possession under a conditional
sales contract
O.; Fair enough. But 1 under
stand were going to have to use
these dinky TOXINS aluminium,
aren't they, with ole in the mid
die?
A.: You don't have to use them.
They're merely for your conven-
fence. They save you money.
O.: Ho wdo you mean?
A.. Well if you make pur-
chase of SO cents, you pay one cetn
tax, and don't have to use token.
You pay just 2 per cent. But if the
article costs AZ Gems, you ray 213
per cent when you part with a pen
| ny for tax.
O.: But dosen't it ever work
the other way?
! A.: Certainly. If you pay one
cent tax on SO cent article, you
pay only 1.S9 instead of 2 per cent.
O.: That's nice. Does the per-
centage run higher when an art
| icle is cheaper?
| r
the purchase cost 10 cents, it would
be better to give the salesman a
| token, which is worth just 18th of
a cent. If you give him a penny in
stead of a token you pay 10 pre-
cent tax.
O.: But where can buy those
toxins?
A.. The bank will distribute
! them to the retailers, and the re-
tailers will. have them ready for
you by May 1,
| O.: Very efficient under
stand, however, that my pockets
will be weighted down with tax
tokens.
/ A.: Well, they weigh less than
1-pO of an ounce.
O.: Yes, but if you have enuf
of them.
A.: Here's the secret. Suppose
I tn tax on an article amounted to
I415ths Of a cent. You don't have
| to give the sales girl four tokens
Give her a penny, and she'll give
you one token. If you work it right,
you probably won't need to carry
more than three or four toxins at a
time These will weigh less than l.
| 9Th of an ounce.
O.: Say, If l understand the mat
ter clearly | as a merchant owe
the state the money for each sale
whether / collct from the buyer or
not, and I'm supposed to collect
from the buyer?
A: That's absolutely correct.
You've got to pay the state for the
sales you make.
TO-: 1t seems to me L heard
about a cigarette tax too?
A.: Uh huh. The rate If 1-20th
of cent for each cigarette if they
don't cost more than one cent APP
iece. More expensive cigarettes are
taxed at 10 per cent of the intend
ed retail sales price.
O.: How do pay this tax.
A.: Simple. Tax stamps come in
denominations of either one half,
one,o or two and one half cents.
These stamps must be affixed to
all packages in stock by May /.
O.: Then | merely pay the re-
tailtr the price of sthe cigarettes
which includes the cost of the
, stamp?
A: That's right.
O.: So far this works out fine
But l own little gum vending
machine. How on earth can | col
lect a tax from the consumer? Do
have to stand out by the machine
with tin cup in my hand?
A: Not at all Make an ap-
plication to the Tax Commission
for prepayment of your sales tax.
If they find that it is impracticable
for you to collect from the purchas
er they probably will let you pay
In advance.
O.: Is this all have to do?
A.: No, if the Commission will
grant you the privilege, you must
furnish bond to secure payment
of the tax and print notice on the
vending machine that the tax has
beeu paid in advance.
Q.Say, on the whole, this retail
salss tax seems to be a pretty good
way of collecting the revenue need
ed to run tn government. Can
counties and cities levy this kind
of tax too?
A.: Absolutely not! In this
state the law provides that there
can be only one retail sales tax as
the state defines it. And the state
collects it.
Ills there anything else | ought
to know about the business?
A.: Well. if there's anything
else you want to find out about IT,
YOU'D better write the State Ia
Commission at Olympia, or better
vet, see the nearest local branch
office. I'm out of breath.