Evening star., 1939-06-15
Dropping Of MOI
Mixes D. T.. income
Tax Bill Further
Those Who Cost Ballots
>s..Bock Home CIussed
As Non-Residents
(Continued From First Page.)


take and will have to be corrected
in the Senate"
One District official, when asked
. about the deletion of the word
pleaded that nothing be published
about the missing ''not'-on the
grounds that it would make 1t more
difficult to get the word re-inserted
in the measure. An effort in this
direction will be made, it was indi-
Gated.
The unexpected loss of the word
IS to be noted in Section 43 of the
income title of the proposed District
revenue measure, which gives def
nitions to terms used in the bill. The
pertinent reference reads:
"The fact that person whose
place of abode during the greater
portion of such IL months has been
within the District and claims or
has exercised the right of vote at
public elections in any State or
territory shall, of itself, constitute
him a nonresident within the
meaning of this title"
The bill, as it was first printed
some time ago, on recommended
tions contained in the report of DR..
Chester Pond and other tax experts,
carried the word mot" after the
word shall" Passage of the bill
in this form would have meant a
congressional declaration that the
mere claim or the exercise of the
right to vote back home" would
not, of itself, constitute a District
worker a nonresident" With the
word mot" deleted, the exact op-
posite is achieved.
Resident" Also Problem.
Apparently, the word was stricken
from the original bill when it was
planned to apply the proposed in
come tax only to personal incomes
or more than $4,000. Very few
Government workers receive more
than such a sum and the absence
of the word. on that basis, would
have made little practical difference,
it is explained, although no reason
is advanced as to why it was nee
essary, in the first place, to declare
that a mere claim of voting rights
elsewhere should, of itself, constitute
q person a nonresident.
The base exemption was reduced,
during House action on the bill, to
incomes of $4,000.
This problem may be Strengthened
out by the Senate, but it appears
there will be many headaches and
much brain-racking before there is
a final solution to the question of
just who is a resident of the
District Possibilities of inequities
in final decisions on individual
cases-which may number thou
sands-Were seen in some quarters,
due to the peculiar nature of the
population of the National Capital.
More Appeals Predicted.
10 V. Morgan, sole member of the
Board of Tax Appeals. agreed the
number of appeals from tax as
sessments may easily be doubled
with passage of an income tax. One
of the problems revolves around
the intricate question of whether
a Federal Government worker in
the District actually learns his in
come here" or whether he is paid
here, since the Supreme Court has
said, several times. that the United
States Government has an "ubiqui-
tous' nature running throughout
the country, having mo particular
place of domicile'
In Wyman VS.. Halstead Q09 U.
s., according to the United States
Supreme Court Reports Digest, the
high court held: Debts due from
the United States have no locality
at the seat of government and are
not to be treated like the debts of
a private debtor which constitute
local assets in his own domicile,
but the administrator of creditor
of the Government, duly appointed
in the State where he was domi-
ciled at the time of his death, has
full authority to receive payment
and give a full discharge in any
place where the Government may
choose to pay"
"A Slilllioi pOAiiU Wdo AlloNC 4AOii-
day during House debate on the
District levy by Representative
Dirksen, Republican Of Illinois,
when he declared: The fact that
the Federal Treasury is located here,
and the fact that salary checks are
disbursed from the Federal Treasury,
does not mean that the income was
earned from sources within the
District"
Question of 'DomiciIe."
All this leads to the question of
whether a Federal worker really
is "domiciled' in the District, ac-
cording to Mr.. Morgan, regardless
Of whatever claim may be made to
voting privileges in the State from
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