The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1936-07-23
DR.. F1ANEY SAYS:
Burden Of Corporation
Taxes Falls On
Consumers, Employees
BY LEWIS HANEY-

Professor OF Economics New York University
An Illinois reader asks Where do taxes corporations
lending and production from Are not corporation surplus
and soak-therh taxes simply phrases to catch votes?"
My be long for the subject of the shifting
and final resting place of taxes complex and difficult
The particular kinds of tax mentioned are very definite
but throw little light
Taxes on corporations are of many kinds where there
competition fairly safe say that most of them by ncreas
ing corporation either O higher prices or 2
compel economics @ force companies out of business
burden of the falls at least part others than
the corporation 1t hurts employees
both.
Take alarm clock for example If buy the
you pay includes:
O that retailers and wholesalers have had
) About 80 taxes paid by the manufacturer such
10 per luxury tax per cent Federal tax the cleo
trio used Federal income tax and Federal capital stock
tax.
money lending usually made by extra charges
for loans Thus they paid by the borrower debtor
Taxes production of have to be paid first by the
ducer But unless all producers making satisfactory profits
and the tax levied only profits made above all
charges and osse the producers must collect such taxes from
those who buy them. That is generally what happens.
Of course all sales fall upon the This is true
not only of the sales levied in at least % Staes
but also of special sales those gasoline and cig
rets Nearly half the price for gares is tax levied
by the Government you Similarly pay very heavy
on every gallon of gasoline you buy.
Taxes compel landlord to charge rent than he other
wise would charge Your has to charge for the food
buy than he would but for the taxes ere
So taxes which you pay when you buy loaf of ead At the
time your pay held because of the burden
your employer bears.
You not know it, but out of $50week check
paying $3.50 One dollar in every four the family
budget is taken away by the tax collector
Theoretically such SURPRISES land (Which
mists call dierenasO and taxes pure not profits would
not raise prices would not be shifted directly
1t practically impossible however, to determine the exact
basis for such taxes Nor would they supply adequate
Our tax system does not rely upon them.
We might tax past savings and thus set capital But
this would cura production and employment and destroy
business.
In the last analysis whether direct indirect
by the VICTIM the great bulk of of
dvdua incomes. Taxes reduce your income and mine. They
raise our living costs.
Where else they from? The Government gets little
income that does from Business corporations have
to get their incomes from sales to
And remember if the Government did not take these billions
of dollars in taxes they would be spent invested nvd
ua That would make business better and enable
larger real incomes.
AS things edera State ocaD takes
about onequarter of incomes and wastes half
it takes.
After all is sa the great remedy for this is the
Government stop spending money
The answer to that second question is, yes-mostly.