The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-02-04

l mlUCe9 MEMBER
"The president told us the ma
tional debt was not q debt because
we owe II to ourselves" Knutscn
said.
Chairman Robert L. Doughton,
D., N. O., Of the committee objected
to skip-a-year features Of the Runll
plan.
"You wouldn't forgive me q debt
that could pay II we were In busi-
ness" he said. 1T would wreck every
business"
Insisting that taxpayers able to
pay their tax debts should be made
to do 80, Doughton added:
II couldn't sleep good Il I was
getting out Of debt ] ought to pay
and passing 1t on to the boys In the
trenches who are giving their ALL"
Asserting that It Is sometimes
good business to forgive debts, RUM
cited the case Of an Iowa physician
who improved his income by pub
licly cancelling all bills owing to him
because "I'd rather have my pa
tients than my bills"
That's one exception" Doughton
snapped.
RUM asserted that the proposed
carryover Of the "so.called llabil-
tiles" for 1912 would be only q
polite way Of increasing indirectly
the assessments In future years on
income taxpayers"
He listed three other reasons why,
In his opinion, the Treasury ap-
proved policy Of collecting In future
years revenue based on q carry-over
from 1912 assessments Is u1wise and
therefore bad" They were:
!. The Treasury's policy us con.
trary to what seems to me to be
right principle, that Is, giving equal
treatment to all taxpayers under O
change In method Of assessing
taxes" wise policy cannot be
founded on wrong principles; the
result Is sure to be uncertainty, dis
unity, conflict, and lack Of faith In
the good faith Of the government"
2. The Treasury policy would
impose ian intolerable burden Of
double taxation" Ruml said that II
1912 payments were spread over two
or three years II would place q
ceiling on given spendable income
from all sources and will actually
result in payments to the govern
ment In excess Of total income In
the higher brackets" Imposition Of
such burdens, he added should come
only after most open" discussion
and by enactment Of specific rates:
and not as an incident to O tax re-
y form program.
3. The Treasury policy would
leave O large number Of taxpayers
with O large outstanding income tax
J debt which "they would feel had
been improperly levied on O dis
criminatory basis" These taxpayers,
J Ruml said, will persistently seek to
redress what will be considered q
Just grievance"
In asserting that the carry-over
plan was only polite way" Of In
directly increasing assessments,
Ruml added that what the method
gains In politenesS, It loses In crude
inexactness and unequal burden in
relation to ability to pay"
In describing the carry-oVer pay
ments as an increase In the taxpay-
er's burdens, he continued:
IF 1t Is commended that this Is
not q burden on income but o bur-
den on savings, feel that while we
are promoting war savings and dis
cussing compulsory savings, q poll
Icy Of tax assessment that depends
on savings to secure payment Is
| most inopportune."
| Ruml denied treasury suggestions
that forgiving 1912 tax liabilities,
estimated at $4,000, 900, 900, would
| be inflationary.
1.-THE only persons who would
have more cash on hand under the
plan are the few who have accrued
their income taxes and who hold
them In liquid FORM" he said. "These
are few indeed and they are not
spendthrifts.
GAS a matter Of fact, since the
pay -as-you-go plan will make With
holding taxes possible at O high
level, and since we will then be COL
lecting for 1e43 In 1o43, the total
effect will be antiinflationary rath-
er than otherwise"
The Ruml plan, the basis Of
which Is forgiveness" Of all taxes
on 1912 income, has so cheered
Z Americans that they haven't both
, cred to file income tax returns yet.
The deadline Is more than five
| weeks off, but returns usually begin
to trickle In during February.
AS the committee waited for
l Ruml's story. q corps Of experts in
! the tax research unit worked on the
: latest proposed substitute for his
t skip-a-year feature, upon which the
! treasury frowns.
All through the night the experts
5 computed, calculated and estimated
to ascertain what would happen If
1 John @. Taxpayer pays the tax on
!. his 1912 income on the same basis
that he paid the tax on his 194l In
v come.
i The idea was suggested by Chair
/ man Robert L. Doughton, D. N. O.,
/ Of the ways and means committee.
: General Treasury Counsel Ran
dolph E. Paul said the Doughton
y plan Doughton quickly disowned
5 it, said 1t was "a suggestion not q
: recommendation'O would forgive
, about $4,000, 100000 of the estimated
! $4,000, OOO,O 900 1913 tax load: that
is, application Of the 1871 rate
, would result in collection Of only
$1,000 100000, approximately.
Paul told the committee that the
Doughton plan was "a very reason
able method" Of easing the transit
ton to pay-as-you-go. It also drew
} favorable comment from conserva-
! tive members Of the committee. But
; it drew fire from the Ruml adher-
) ents.
Ruml objected to the word for
giving" in describing proposals Tor
changing over to current coilec-
ton basis.
'FOrgiving' is q term which !