The Wrangell sentinel., 1946-04-19
DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION GIVES EXPLANATION OF
 s. B. NO. g SALES TAX

veterans Tax CS. B No. 9) will be useful for the information of the taxpayers of Alaska.
 Although said bill was widely publieized at the outset of the ex- tra-ordinary session as embodying q sales tax. it really turned out to l be a gross revenue or income tax on all business in the Territory of Alaska
 General Interpretation
 Section 8 provides for creation of the Alaska World War II Vet erans' Revolving Fund. to be used for carrying out the Veterans program. said fund to be composed of moneys derived from the tax in question. Subsection l of Section 5 provides as follows:
 Cal One percentum of the gross revenue derived from all retail sales made in the Territory
 lbl One percentum of the gross revenue derived from services per formed in the Territory. Exeep- tons under this heading are sal aries and wages. sales of life in surance, guaranty and fidelity bonds and tax-exempt bonds All other services are included
 Subsection of said Act levies the following tax:
 Cal One-half of one percentum Of the gross revenue derived from wholesale sales made in the Terri tory.
 (b) One-half of one percentum of the gross market value at the time of export of all fish, gold, fur lumber and other commodities pro duced mined, caught, manufactur ed or processed in the Territory.
 In connection with all of said . taxes, the Act states that same are | payable by the retailer. rendered [ of services, wholesaler Or exporter ! as the case may be. The tax is to | terminate at the end of the quar- ter during which $3,25O,000 has i. been collected.
 When Payable
 The tax is payable at the end of each calendar quarter. However, companies operating on fiscal l year basis other than the calendar year. will be dealt with quarterly or the basis Of their own fiscal year. Companies who keep their books and pay Federal taxes on an accrual basis will be dealt with oa that basis, if they so desire. How ever, they may provide additional records breaking down their busi- ness on a cash basis, and if they so desire, pay the tax only on mon ey which has actually been re- ceiyed
 The tax is to be collected by the of Taxation. Appropri- ate forms for making quarterly tax returns will be provided by the Tax Commissioner and will be a. vailable before the end of the cur rent quarter. Although the tax shall be payable at the end or each calendar quarter, it shall not become delinquent until one mon'h after expiration of the immediate ly preceding quarter, beyond which time it shall be delinquent Penal ties for delinquency are provided in the Act; also interest at the rate of 6To per annum from due date until paid. Violations are de- fined as misdemeanors.
 Passing It On
 The principal question raised os business concerns is: May the tax be passed on?" There is nothing i'll the Act which prohibits business concerns from passing on the tax tc the consumers In this connec- tion. however, prices cannot be changed in violation of OPA cell irgs However, the OPA will allow the tax to be collected if it is coll lacted as a tax and so designated at the time of the transaction. This means that invoices shou'o 1 show the prices charged for the merchandise and then show l1o oi same as a separate item marked "vaterans' Tax " Cash transactions which might or might not involve sales slips should be treated in the same manner II must NS sized that the OPA will not alio" any additions over ceilings in eX- cass of 1%. Therefore. the tax on sales under soc cannot be passed on and the merchant must there fore absorb same in such cases However. the breakage point on nennv is the halfway point. Ac- cordinglv. sales of soc to 1.49 in elusive. would carry the le tax, and SO on according to the size oi the transaction. It must be remel.- bered that this is not consumer sales tax. Therefore, no sales tok- ems representing fractions or cent are to be made available to or collected from consumers. It also 1 .~,I .ho. tba Territory has no