Evening star., 1949-07-04
Liechtenstein Restricts
Toxes to so of Income
All National and Village Levies
Covered Under Rigid Policy
By Thomas r. Henry

By Thomas X. Henry
VADUZ, Liechtensten-One walks into an
elsewhere vanished Europe by crossing the
drawbridge-symbol guarded by cam
non of the wars of Maria Theresa-into the
twelfth century castle of the reigning prince
of this last remnant of the Holy Roman
Empire.
Liechtenstein is a 100-square mile prln-
cipality in the Austrian Alps which is like
a fairy-tale kingdom of the Middle Ages
yet the town milkman in Vaduz has just
built an airfield for his private plane ana
the state is building a million-dollar hydro
electric plant.
It was the S0th birthday of a tall. erect.
military looking gentleman-as fine an ex-
ample as could be found of old-world cour-
tesy-whom his descendants. gathered from
all over Europe in his honor, call Affection
ately "the old prince"
Dimes with Royal Family.
In the courtyard chestnut-haired young
woman in a smart brown tweed suit ana
an elderly lady are stripping the blossoms
off linden boughs. The young woman IN
PRODUCES herself-the reigning Princess
Georgiana of Lechtenstein. The elderly
lady is the Princes aunt, Princess Maria
Anunciata, niece of the late Emperor franz
Josef of Austria Hungary.
had come to Vaduz opportunely on
national holiday, the feast of Corpus Chrlsti'
and quite Unexpectedly found myself at oln-
ner with this one still ruling line OF the
Hapsburg dynasty in this ancient castle 1s
was typical family gathering. They try
their best to talk English World travellers,
none of them has yet been in the United
States. Heads of a state. they naturally are
interested in prices and taxes and are a
little shocked at the amount every American
must turn over to the Government.
In Liechtenstein. explains Prince Franz
Joseph, the, present ruler, they have rigid
policy that no citizen shall pay more than , I
per cent of his Total income in taxes-in- :.
come taxes real estate taxes. all state and
village taxes combined. The income tax is
thus adjusted. That is if some local inn
provement is under way which requires
heavy village taxes, one pays no income
tax at ALL :
Regrets Taxation.
Prince Franz Joseph regrets the necessity
of any kind of taxation. Iiechtenstein had
none whatsoever until the end the World
War I, but unavoidably the rate has been
creeping up a little ever since.
Prices unfortunately are high. They seem
to average just a little under those in the
United States but some of the rumors that
have come here are little exaggerated.
thority, which is not very good on such SUBJ
jects-that medium class Woolen dress of
the shelves of department store in the
United States costs a minimum OF 5000 IS
not true. She is also interested in cold
remedies. That is why she was stripping
blossoms off linden boughs. They have an
old family recipe for linden tea.
Dinner over. Prince Heinrich, younger
brother of the ruler, got out one of the three
family cars and took me for five-hour tour
covering the length and breadth of this lit
tie state near the headwaters OF the Rhine.
We visited nearly every one of its villages,
festively draped with the red and blue flags
of the principality and the red and gold flags
Of the Liechtenstein family. The people were
on holiday. In nearly every village a uni
formed band was playing. The mountains
sides were musical with the tinkle of cow
bells. One got the feeling of a day in
Shangri-la. where folks are living under
about the most ideal conditions to be found
in the world.
a.. Finds Nothing Lacking.
had hoped to say that this was land
with no taxes, which would be just short OF
the truth Yet with probably the absolute
minimum of taxes to be found anywhere in
the civilized world 1t is hard to see where
the country lacks anything. The roads are
good. Public improvements are underway
everywhere. Telephone and mail services
are excellent.
The reasons for this happy state Of af-
fairs may be somewhat complicated if one
goes far under the surface, but specifically
they are clear enough The country has no
army. Eight policemen are sufficient to
keep the peace among its 10000 people. 1t
has no foreign service. except for one lega-
ton in Switzerland. The Liechtenstein FAM
lily derives no income from the little king
DOM" relying for its income on private in
yestments. Stamp collectors pay an enor-
nous revenue to the state. If philately
should lose popularity. Liechtenstein would
be in hard way. Also this is the Delaware
of Europe with exceptionally easy laws for
international corporations. A parent holding
company here may operate plants in about
every country this side of the Iron Curtain.
Perhaps most important of ALL however.
is the extremely local nature of the govern
ment. Each village owns its communal for
ests. it's communal mountain pastures. In
addition, each peasant owns his own farm.
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