Evening star., 1947-07-01
Mary|anders Taking
Sales Tax in Stride
With Few Complaints

nearby Maryland appeared to be
taking the 2 per cent sales tax
in stride today as the levy went
into effect throughout the State
|. Silver Spring businessmen agreed
that no one liked the new measure
but pointed out that the buying
public was reluctant to do any
thing about it.
Look at that" said the owner
of a jewelry store, as he pointed to
an antisales tax petition on his
counter. I'VE have had this here
for several weeks, and we have
only about seven names on it,"
Objections in Restaurants,
Most of the objections to the tax
came from men and women eating
In drugstores and restaurants in
the nearby Maryland community,
They said they thought it was
extremely unfair" to be taxed on
an essential commodity such as
food.
In addition several women GUS
toners in a Silver Spring drugstore
were indignant over paying the tax
or: face powder, beauty soaps and
lotions.
ITO women these articles are as
necessary as food" one woman de-
clared.
The tax is figured at the rate of
l cent on every article costing from
9 to so cents and 2 cents if the
article costs between 81 cents and
81. An additional l cent is imposed
for every 50-cent bracket over 81.
The largest exemption is food
bought for consumption at home.
No Indication of Effect.
No definite indication could be
obtained on whether sales were
dropping off in nearby Maryland as
result of the tax.
A shoe store, for example, had
more customers than the single clerk
could wait on when a reporter
walked in. On the other hand, a
haberdasher across the street hadn t
had single customer all morning.
II got excited for a minute when
I saw you come in," the storekeeper
told the reporter. II thought you
were a customer. But the quiet
morning has given me good chance
to rearrange my stock"
In Bethesda, drug stores were
crowded and shoppers we're making
practically no comment as they
paid the tax.
In general, the owners of stores
did not complain about the actual
mechanical burden of computing the
tax and forwarding it to the Mary
land controller. That phase of the
sales tax they were taking as an un-
avoidable nuisance.
Clerks, however, particularly In
the 10-cent stores were visibly har-
ried by the extra burden.
Dry cleaning stores interpreted
their business as a personal service
and therefore exempt from the tax.
Food stores, although exempt
from having to add a tax for food,
nevertheless had to add it on to
other articles of household mer-
chandise which most OF them sell.
This made computation of the aver
age housewives bill just about as
complicated as if every item on the
list was taxed.
A grocery store on Wisconsin ave-
nue. near Old Georgetown road was
using an empty milk bottle as a
receptacle for the tax. Customers
were asked to drop the tax on their
purchases in the bottle. Other store
proprietors were placing the tax
pennies in boxes and other recep-
tacles.
AS the controversial measure went
into effect, Robert I. Black of Nor
beck, president OF the Maryland
Economic Council, Inc. issued a
statement that the campaign to re-
peal the tax sis progressing simul-
taneously on number of fronts"
D. C. Merchants to Meet.
Meanwhile, Washington mer-
chants were preparing for mass
meeting at pm. tomorrow in the
United States Chamber of Com
merce auditorium at which they
hoped some solution would be found
to the question of how to collect
sales taxes on merchandise bought
in the District and delivered to
nearby Maryland.
Both the Board Of Trade and