The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-09-06
CED Tox Plan Cuts Levies

(Continued from Page D postwar tax plan offered by Q busi- ness group this summer. The first was the Irwin Cities Plan" drafted by group of Minneapolis and St. Paul businessmen and the second was prepared by Beardsley Runl and Hans Some for the National Planning Association, Ruml, R. H., Macy Company treasurer, IS e mem. Der of the CED Research commit- tee.
 Plan Like Rufnls
 The CED plan was similar to the Ruml-Sonne plan and had some features in common with the Twin cities plan.
 After eliminating the three per cent normal tax, which allows no exemption for Independents, the CED plans calls for c first bracket tax of IS to 20 per cent with taxes In higher brackets ranging up to 73 to 77 per cent.
 The Ruinl plan also set basic personal tax rate of l6 per cent but limited surtaxes to 50 per cent. Both plans would reply on the personal income tax for most of the governments revenue.
 The twin cities proposal set the lowest bracket personal tax rate at 10 per cent with surtaXeS up to 50 per cent but provided for national Ave per cent sales tax. If the sales tax should be omitted, the proposal would allow Q maximum of 66 per cent on the surtaX.
 Tn reducing the surtaXes from the present ceiling of 9i per cent, the authors of all three plans were seek ing tc meet the complaint that ex- isting high upper bracket taxes dis- courage risk taking,
 Double Taxation
 Tn the field of corporate taxes, the CED plan called for reducing the levies, which now range upward from 70 per cent, to the 1920 per cent level of the basic personal in. come tax. Stockholders then would not be required to pay that first bracket tax on dividends received and would pay only surtaxes on dividends. By restoring the stock. holders exemption in effect until lo3e, the CED committee sought to eliminate So-called double taxa tion."
 Although Ruml's corporate tax plan was applied differently, It's Of. feet would be the same. He proposed that corporations pay i6 per cent rate on undistributed profits and that the balance of taxes on corpo- rate income be paid by the stock. holder through his regular personal taxes on corporate dividends re. ceived. Tn addition, Runll would iil1- pose c five per cent franchise tax on corporations.
 Twin Cities Plan
 The twin cities plan would levy c 70 per cent tax on corporate income and exempt 40 per cent of the stockholders dividends from per. sonal taxes.
 All three plans sought reductions in corporate taxes in order to stiFn. ulate investment.
 The CED contended that heavy corporate taxes were extremely and peculiarly damaging to employ. Tnent" because they reduced funds available for increasing production, creating jobs, paying higher wages and reducing prices.
 New York, Sept. 6-(UP)-A gain of 40 to 30 per cent in the standard of living after the war is enviSaged in tax reforms proposed by the Committee for Economic Develop fnent, Beardsley Runil, tax expert and c member of the CEDS Tax Research Committee said today.
 The committees program was afls nounced in Washington. Its goal, it was announced, was "full eTTi- ployment and the creation Of mil- lions of new jobs through expansion of private business.
 Rumi said all taxes could be re. ducec under the committees pros gram. which would raise 9i7,i00,. 100000 (B) to ei0,600, 100000 (B) annually, and that the increase in the living standard must take place primarily among people with lower Income"
 Tt seems to us," he said, that the cardinal policy should be to re- move the tax from these people who would use that money in iicreaSed cofigtimption,D
 Pointing to the corporation tax provisions of the committees plan, under which taxes on corporate earnings would in effect be . pay. as-you-gO tax on the income Of the stockholders, Rumi said that under c system of high corporation taxes, the corporation merely is the .iEls strurnenE through which the people actually pay the ievies.
 Three groups are primarily afs fected by high corporate taxes" he said. "One, the customer, who pays higher prices, two, the worker whose wages are lower and, three, tlle stockhoider. whose 6ividends age
 Tic GID plan calls for perSonaI Income taxes suficieut to raiee e6