Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1949-11-14
Taxes Of 452 Million
Seen Making GIN Top
Producer for Treasury
Stockholders Will Pay
$50, 000, 900 More,
Workers 274 Million
By Da,rd Laurence

When the Government found IN
wartime that q company had done
al excellent job Of production, an
"E" flag was awarded with much
ceremony. Maybe in these days Of
unbalanced budgets. Secretary Of
the Treasury Snyder ought to be
awarding an "E" to the company
which makes a record In produc-
ing dollars for the United States
Treasury.
Such q record is being made by
General Motors, with an estimated
total for this year Of $452, 900 900
Of Federal taxes.
But If to this sum is added the
tax money which Uncle Sam de-
rives from the dividends paid out
this year by General Motors. an
additional 10000. 900 will have
been collected from individual
stockholders-or q total Of about
$685., 0o0,0o
The significance Of such an i'm
mense contribution to the Fed
eral Treasury can be appraised
when it is realized that this sum
is enough to relieve all other tax
payers in America from paying
the expenses of many departments
and agencies of the Government.
More Than Stockholders Get
Thus with $532, o00. 900, Uncle
Sam can pay all the salaries and
expenses of the White House and
"a independent agencies, boards
and commissions. including the
Federal Trade Commission, the
Federal Communications Commits
sion, the Interstate Commerce
Commission, the Securities and
Exchange Commission, the Ma
tional Labor Relations Board and
several others Of major impor-
lance.
But this is not all. Out OF that
same sum, besides paying for the
White House and the independent
agencies, Uncle Sam can pay all
the salaries and expenses OF the
Senate and House Of Representa-
tives and of all the Federal judges
as well as all the salaries and ex-
penses Of the Bureau Of Internal
Revenue in collecting taxes OF all
kinds.
That's q lot of money to come
from a single company, and 1t Is
far more than the stockholders
themselves will get. Thus, the
44o, 900 stockholders Of General
Motors will retain about 1884 .000,-
900 Of dividend money after pay
ing their individual income taxes,
whereas Uncle Sam will be retain
ing $532, 100000
Labor Gets Biggest Share
Labor receives by far the biggest
share Of the company's gross in
come. For the payroll will run an
estimated total of $1,370,000, 900
this year. Uncle Sam will collect
about 20 per cent Of that sum or
about $274,000, 900 in individual
income taxes from the workers.
So, all in all. General Motors
can readily claim that it is the
chief producer of dollars for the
Treasury. not only by the Jobs 1t
maintains in production. but in
the profits it helps to make for
dealers and suppliers whose tax
payments out Of profits are, Of
course, not included In the above
figures. Nor incidentally is there
included in the data the tens Of
millions Of dollars paid out OF
gross income by General Motors
in local and State taxes.
More important to the Ameri-
can system, however. than the
dollars brought into the Treasury
is the reward given to those who
use their savings to invest in the
securities of efficiently operated
companies. For unless a risk
capital system carries with 1t an
incentive to continued investment
and .reinvestment, there is no
chance to create more jobs and
expand the economy.
II an individual bought a share
of General Motors common stock
early In 1945, at the market price
of SOS, he would have received in
the last five years a total Of $20.75,
being an average income. of SAILS
a share a year. This is an aver
age return Of six and four-tenths
per cent q year. In the annals
Of finance, this is considered fair
return. II more companies could
do that, there wouldn't be an un-
balanced Federal budget. Maybe
they can do 1t II Government
wakes up to the fact that it has
a partner In American business
who. If encouraged, can produce
more and more tax dollars.
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