The Daily Alaska empire., 1941-01-29
corporaton net income tax and general property tax

 of all principles It is based upon ability to pay IL tNe those afford to in proportion to ther ability to do and not otherwise The taxes proposed shoo oe anu can be moderate. .,,
 One of the greatest problems of those unfavorabe aspects of absenteesm which should control IS the vast of that goes out of the territory every yea in the form of wages paid to nonresidens We are all am come here the fisheries and on the pacers work rev weeks months spend little or nothing here ana go ou' with their seasons earnings virtually mace some Q, .e f incredible may actually receive their pay ael they have left the Territory Many of them, with board and lodging provided by their employer do not even for those necessities It not fair to Alaska ana te Aasan that share of this great sum derNed rom e expoation of Alaskas natural resources not ei' Ill the Territory. - u .os
 It is therefore proposed to put 29d tax on all incomes earned in Alaska with exemption for nonresidens put with an exemption of $O00 for residents who are snge 0 for residents who are married and additional S40O exemption for each child other dependent It seems enough that who comes here and works for two months in the fisheries and takes out thousand dollars shall pay territory $20 for the special oppor tnes which are granted him here which distinctly
 nerio o those available to him beow' For the who earns $500 the of five or SIX months on te the modest of $3O will accrue to the terrtory
 For residents the rate of tax subject to the eXep tons might well apply with rates graduated TOT igle m incomes whatever scale the Legislature may see ILL @ may he some question to the constituonaly ot this dfferena between residents and nonresdents But there is ample ground belief that with the special peculiar even ven noue situation created by the great seasonal influx ana the amo total absence of expenditure within the Territory by this group the courts will give this matter iavorape cp
 eration good precedent exists Tn the d11erehtal oe tween the present resident and nonresident fisherman
 license tax In any event. the issue ought to De tested once all in the canned salmon industry alone to wo have no stake here whatever and with the Terri tory except what they can take out out @ o It nues sbond credited against this income tax payment ne e @ collected at the source by deduction rom ehe & % & thus be collected with minimum of expense ne statue can and should be drawn so that thls sght ana reaso tax cannot be passed on to the employer.
 Corporation Income Tax .,4
 The net corporation income tax which in my Judgment should be fixed at flat 4@o, would reach great many now having relatively little to the Territory or
 
 of business bearing no relation to actual income earned In exchange this the mercantile and ncese taxes should be abolished except where these ater are levied regulatory purposes In order to ooVte uou taxation credit should be given against this terrltoa income tax for federal lcehse taxes pau "''N "NNi
 Territory. =. ,., , ;+b the federal income tax will not involve great cost of col lection and that will furnish the fairest kind of levy It Twill eotaby dferentate in the mining industry between those corporations which make large pro1ts ana those WHICH make slight ones It will establish just difterenta between those operators whose costs are high and those whose
 At this point it is appropriate to discuss this net income tax in relation to gold mining.
 Seven years ago last fal the federal government l- the price of gold from $2O67 to $35 This was great wndfall There few if any, parallels or anaoges it anywhere else in the business or M world which overnight commodity whose market was guaranteed and subject to competition received sucn an Let conjecture what might nave happened @ the President before definitely determining on nls slep called the gold operators of the naon actual and pros pective into assembly, announced this as possible acton on his part and asked them what proportion of tns n crease they would willing to return in taxes II ana when the action took place. venture to that had this hypo thetca situation occurred he could have secured pedge of substantial part of that amount Actually, of course no such thing happened As far as Alaska was concerned there was for three material change in it's tax on gold In 1885 with $16432325 production of gold the total territorial all mining including gold was only 678a rfe over 9 Then in 1887 territorial tax called gross tax 3 put gold and platinum metals while at the time the previous graduated net income tax still applicable to other mining was removed rom eo and platinum metals Actually it was not 32 gross tax With an exemption of $10ooo from 1937 to 1859 and since tbet an exemption $20000 what does this so-caled 3 cross gold tax really mean The enterprise which takes out worth of gold actually one percent ono on that amount Those who take out $4OOOO pay l $boOoO Zf6 SOOOO0 pays 248 and up, most operators paying substantially less than 39 and only those who take out aroe quantities paying which approaches that rate But no one actually pays the full 3% Now there is one basic fact about the extraction m of minerals M S Ia fisheries industry which takes out of the sea prod which, varingy depending upon quantity and prlce ranpe about 40 million dollars in value each year. But that 40 million granted the continued application and improvement of conservation measures VIII always income next year the year after and generation