Evening star., 1936-10-04

ngureS on taxes on certain commodl-
ties. In such cases the taxes we're
omitted altogether in the interest Of
scientific accuracy. The figures given
in this studysare therefore invariably
conservative
Accumulated taxes on at least zoo
articles Of food, clothing, household
use and other goods which these
families used In the course Of the
year had to be figured. The various
taxes which each article picked up
in the process of production had to
be checked and added up and then
computed on the basis Of the small
quantity which Mrs. Allsup, Mrs.
Green or Mrs. Bateman purchased.
Computations often had to be made
in tenths of mills. Farmers, miners.
industrialists, wholesalers and retail
ers in all parts Of the country had to
be approached for information.
Settling With Tax Collector.
At each stage of production or
marketing a new tax is slammed on.
This tax is Immediately incorporated
In the price Of article.
As most Of the food we eat and
the raw material base Of many of the
things we wear and use come from
the farm, the original tax paid by
the farmer and passed on to the con-
sumer in the cost Of farm goods is
the first item which had to be taken
into account.
Utilizing Department Of Agricul-
ture figures, it Is found that slightly
more than s.3 per cent Of the total
farm income is paid out in real estate,
personal property and gasoline taxes
and in automobile license fees. Many
other shiftable taxes paid by the farm
ers, such as .levies on electricity, tele-
phone, farm machinery, feed and
fertilizers have not been included in
this 93 per cent figure. These taxes
undoubtedly raise the farmers total
tax burden to q considerably higher
figure, but, as no accurate figures per-
tanning to them are available, 1t has
been decided In the interest Of exacti-
tude to make no estimates.
Not only that, but the s3 per cent
figure has been arrived at after max
ing adjustments for tax delinquency
and for taxation on land itself. In
the case Of tax delinquency, that por-
ton of the tax which the farmer
failed to pay cannot, Of course, be
passed on to the consumer Nor were
taxes on land counted, in keeping with
orthodox economic theory that since
such taxes can in no way affect. the
supply of land, the price Of the goods
produced by such land likewise is un-
affected by them.
According to Federal Government
figures, the farmer receives As per
cent of the consumers dollar spent
for farm products. If 9.3 per cent Of
the farmers income goes into shift
able taxes, then Abs cents Of every
dollar spent by the housewife for
farm products Is Q charge directly
traceable back to taxes on the farmer.
In other words, when you 60 into
your neighborhood store and buy 81
worth of meat, vegetables and fruit,
you pay out about. s1a cents just in
taxes on the farmer alone. But these
goods passed through many hands be-
fore they reached the retailer. At
every stage o new tax was added to
the cost Of the article. By the time
the article was ready for consumption,
the accumulated tax cost was far
greater than the original 4.185 cents
on the dollar which pays for farmers
taxes. .se'.
During the first 10 weeks of this
study, which was begun on September
l, 1885, the A. A. A. processing taxes
were In effect. These levies, which for
the most part were shifted on to the
consumer, added the following amounts
to the cost Of few consumer COM
modities: u cent on Q pound of
sugar, II cent on pound loaf of
bread, 4.29 cents on . pound Of bacon,
5.67 cents on Q pound Of Scotch ham,
3.sl. cents on dollar shirt l0.l5
cents on o bed sheet and $40 cents q
q chambray workshirt.
But these figures show only the
amounts Of the original processing.
BY the time they wers 'pyramided"