Evening star., 1939-06-13
Lucky Congressman


Aside from the almost incredible
spectacle of Simon-pure self-interest
displayed by the House yesterday in
exempting members of Congress and
their employees from the local in
come tax, the exemption-as long as
1t lasts-will be Of value in dramatic
ing the unique situation which exists
in Washington in relation to the
income tax and other local taxes.
The members who voted for the
exemption justified their course on
understandable and, to certain ex-
tent, on rational grounds. They were
sent to Washington by their con-
stituents; they are only temporary
members of this community; they
pay taxes back home. Why should
they be asked to pay a local income
tax to the District of Columbia?
The argument may be sound. But
II it is, then it is likewise applicable
to all who, through the vicissitudes of
politics or governmental service,
make their temporary homes in
Washington. Why should a $4,000
a-year member of Congress be ex-
empt from the very tax that is
plastered on his $3,OO0-a-year con-
stituent for whom he found politi-
cal job in Washington? Why should
the member of Congress be exempt
from the tax that the President of
the United States, cabinet officers
and their employees, Army and Navy
officers assigned to Washington-in
fact, everybody else living tempo
rarily and working in the District
must pay? Why, as matter of fact,
should member of Congress be ex-
empt from the income tax when 9TH
er Federal workers, who live in
Maryland and Virginia, have to
pay it?
And that brings us down to the
next point: Why not exempt all of
the so-called non-residents who
maintain their legal residence in
States-as the Congressman have ex-
empted themselves-but who must
pay this tax on income earned within
the District of Columbia?
The answer, as pointed out by
nearly everybody who has studied the
local income tax, is that-aside from
the fagrant inequity represented-if
the exemptions enjoyed by Congress-
men and Legislative employees" like
wise protected others who fall into
the same residence category, the local
income tax would be inadequate as
revenue raiser.
For the District of Columbia offers
unique problems as taxing jurisdic-
ton. No other city has such a large
proportion of nonresident, non-tax-
paying population. In recent years
the marked exodus of Washing
tonians to the adjacent suburbs of
Maryland and Virginia has served to
complicate the problem. Members of
Congress and many others who make
their homes in Washington may be
Temporary" residents. But they
and their successors represent a
large element of the population for
whom the city must provide the
schools, police and fire protection
and other municipal services-plus
the extraordinary expenses of Ma
tlonal Capital development-fo for
which taxes are levied. If the prin-
ciple adopted by the House members
for their own selfish protection is
generally applied, the whole cost of
Capital City maintenance and devel-
opment will be placed not merely
upon the local community alone, but
upon that portion of the local COM
munity which makes permanent
residence of Washington. These tax
payers, already bearing a heavy tax
burden, will next face bankruptcy.
Because the income tax which
finally passed yesterday was rewrit-
ten on the floor of the House, it is
full of ineouities which must be cor
rected If the bill is to become law
Written originally to apply only to
incomes in excess of $4,000, it lacks
all credits for dependents. Its rates
are excessive, in some salary levels
compared with the Federal tax. In
considering it, the Senate District
Committee will necessarily restudy
the arguments of the tax experts
that, if any income tax is to be ap-
piled in the District, it should be
coupled with a sales tax if the rates
are not to be confiscatory and if the
tax, at the same time, is to raise any
substantial amount of revenue.
It is gratifying, of course, that the
intangibles tax and the discredited
gross receipts tax have been repealed
in the bill. The practical difficulty,
however, with which the legislators
are faced Is that in finding a work.
able substitute for these taxes, which
together produced over $5,0O0000,
local income tax revenue-raising
powers will be stretched beyond the