Evening star., 1943-12-12
Tax Questions and Answers
Treasury Department Gives Pointers
For Filling Out Dec. IS Declarations

The following questions and an
swers about the December 18th In
come tax declarations have been
made public by the Treasury De-
partment:
@. What kind Of tax filing is to
be made Wednesday?
A. Declarations Of income and
Victory tax, estimating how much
tax certain persons will owe on
their 1943 income In excess of in
come tax payments already made or
of income tax withheld from wages
or salary during the year.
@. Wasn't that done September
Is?
A. Yes. Nearly 10000 taxpay-
ers filed declarations September is.
The only persons who have to file
now are those who did not file then
but are required to do so by De-
cember Is either because, in the
case of farmers, they had an auto
matte postponement, or because they
did then not expect enough in
come to require filing but now antic-
ipate higher incomes which do re-
quire filing of declarations. Also,
any persons who filed in Septem-
ber who underestimated the tax
by 20 per cent If non-farmers or
1914 per cent If farmers-should
file amended declarations by De-
cember Is to avoid penalties.
@. What is an amended declara-
ton?
A. 1t is, in reality, a substitute
declaration. It Is filed on a similar
form and is distinguished only by
writing the word amended" at the
top of the front page of the form.
@. What information is required?
A. You estimated your 1943 in
come and Victory tax, based on your
estimate of 1943 income and then
deduct any payments made this year
on 1912 tax probably instalments
in March and June)-and also any
taxes withheld and estimated to be
withheld from wages. The remain
der is the amount you owe and must
be paid on or before DECEMBER Is.
Q. How do know if I have to
file declaration by December Is?
A. If you filed in September you
do not need to file now unless you
believe you underestimated the tax
by more than 20 per cent 1914 per
cent if farmer) in which case you
should file an amended declaration
to avoid penalties. If you did not
file in September you should file a
declaration if you had in 1912 or ex-
pect to have in 1943 income of any
of the following amounts or types:
a. More than $100 gross income
other than wages which are subject
to withholding and also expect suff1-
cient gross income from all sources
to require filing an annual income
tax return $500 for a single per-
son, $1,000 for a married couple, or
1924 for an individual married per-
SOM
b. Wages subject to withholding
exceeding S2,700 if single or exceed
ing $500 if married (S3,500 either
individually or together in the case
of husbands and wives both receiv-
AllS WoSCo'.
In addition, a declaration must be
filed by any person who was re-
quired to file an income tax return
for 1912 and who expects his wages
subject to withholding in 1943 to
be less than the wages received in
1912.
@. How accurate must my esti-
mate be?
A. It should be as accurate as you
reasonably can make it, especially
since by December Is there will be
only two weeks Of the year left.
However, no penalty will be as
sessed if the tax is not underesti-
mated by more than 20 per cent In
the case of non-farmer or 1914
per cent in the case of farmers.
Q. How much is the penalty for
Understanding?
A. Generally 6 per cent of the
deficiency.
G. Suppose I overestimate; what
happens?
A. If an overestimate results in
overpayment of the correct tax
shown in the March return, the