Montana labor news., 1950-01-26

Itffrt inns .. TIE committee NNitN
0r,tc, the nation tax laws
Forand's Stand Confirmed
4, reported III Labor. the rail
Er ,herhood, paper. Forand said
thar ii lnelc sam collected all the
iaNc, he Is entitled 10. the budget
quill BE- balanced withou, any tai
increase, Fyrand will cndeayor To
a" something Abou; II during the
5mlns session
farsnd, clam vas confirmed al
most 10 per cent TIN, week BY Con
gresham nnughtun ID. North Car
Dina. veteran chairman OF the way,
and mean, committee, and A conser-
sativv
Commenting On these statements.
tie Wall street Journal discussed
some q the tax loopholes, e,
pccialh emphasizing two
Fake educational. charitable
nal religion, foundations" or
trusts. into which wealthy men
and Operations put their profit,
- tsuld take, on them.
IL ihi, lopholc we're plugged. the
" al Street financial newspaper say,
| nclc sam nigh, collect each year
Il billion which Is nov being hid
den from him.
mother 800 million a year
Alieh IS no small change"-is es
ipne tax collector, through the
depletion allowance" loophole.
j ohhsl>t> iut powerful oil interests
pm, through congress some year,
ago 4 las which gives producers OF
petroleum. natural "a, and some
other minerals. tax advantages en-
jo,ca ., 49, one else. The treasury
ha, repeatedly asked congress, TO re
peal tins law, bu, the lobby has kept
il, On the books
Under ,hi, las p and-a-hali per
cent. lr more thon one fourth. OF the
income from an oil or gas we'll i,
gomplciels exempt from federal in
come taxes
The theory back oi this is that.
~ taking oil Or gas gu oi the we'll.
the company is depicting its capt
tai
i, makes no difference what the
OIL OF gas in the ground cost the
company. Even If it cost not one
cent, the company gets a depletion
allowance Of y and a-half per cen,
Of the money the company obtain,
hy selling the oil or gas. On that
big portion 81 the company's in
come, It pays not a cent OF tax.
Sulphur companies, which have
i monopolistlc and immensely profit
able industry get the next biggest
depletion allowances per cent OF
their incomes.
Some other mineral producers &c,
4 Is per CEN allowance and coal
companies only 5 per cent. In the
last session oi congress, lobbies tried
Is put through a bill adding other
minerals to the list ior similar tax
idvors.
l'cw u the American people ever
heard about this, but it is one big
reason why there are 50 many "oi'
multi mlllionaires.
Those are Just samples Of the tas
lvppholcs Ii all were plugged, ane
tic treasury department were giver
enough Investigators TO catch th'
dodgers, the conservative Unite,
Press said recently, Uncle San
might collect as much as s. bill
lion which IS now evading him an
nually That would more than bal
ance the federal budget deficit, nov
estimated a, IS billion.
TaN statements came IRON me-
whose official position, make thei
rcmark, highly significant.
Views OF Lucas Sawyer
last week Congressman Martin .
Mass republican floor lead
cr In the house. came out Tor moth
ing more nor less than abolishin.
the luxury taxes on such thing
a, women'> 5000 mink coats Tha
S. one Was Of cutting taxes on III
rich.
The senate Democratic flood lead
or. senator Lucas OF Illinois, too
a .tttle broader view OF the problem
the luxury taxes are ended, h
,aid. the loss 10 the treasury shout
be made up BY increasing taxes o
corporation profits
Secretary Of Commerce SawyS
took oii' in the exact opposite di'
ectiou. He proposed the double tai
alton OF corporation profits. and {
the stockholders who receive tho
profits as dividends.
That proposal is being pushed
spokesmen for the wealthy. VIII,
they and Sawyer suggest is that III
congress d. wha, the TAFT 'wors
congress did--pass a rich mems "a
bill