Evening star., 1961-01-27
Capfn Favors
New BuIwarks
In nTaxSYstenl
BY DAVID s. BRoDER
star staff Writer

BY DAVID s. BRODER
star staff Writer
The Nations new No. tax
collector comes to his job with
the conviction that something
must be done to protect the
integrity Of the tax system from
widespread fraud and evasion.
Mortimer M. Caplin, the "A
year-old Virginian named Com
missioner Of Internal Revenue
Tuesday by President Kennedy,
believes there is need for
tougher tax law enforcement
as well as a basic overhaul of
the tax code.
Mr.. Caplin is not discussing
his views publicly while his
nomination is pending before
the Senate, but he has been on
the record on the subject for
some time.
Calls Tax Attitude Vital
In q 1858 article in the Vir-
ginia Law Review, based on
testimony he gave the House
Ways and Means Committee,
Mr.. Caplin said a combination
Of factors was twisting public
attitudes toward the tax laws
attitudes he said are the
single most important factor
in successful tax enforcement.
He blamed the worsened pub
lie attitude on artificially high
tax rates, overly complex laws.
widespread publicity on ways
of tax avoidance, sporadic en-
forcement of the law and what
he called "unjustifiable dis
elimination" in the tax code
itself.
I'VE have reached a danger
point" he said, which strongly
evidences an undermining of
the tax morality Of large num-
bers Of people"
Suggests Remedies
Mr.. Caplin suggested q num-
ber Of remedies for the situa-
ton. including a step-up in the
auditing and investigating of
tax returns by the agency he is
about to head. 1T is not that
we have need for a high-pow-
cred police force Of Treasury
men," he said, but q broad
exercise Of the auditing pro-
cedure on a reasonable basis
has a salutary effect. Knowl-
edge among taxpayers that
their returns will probably be
examined serves to check pos
sible abuses"
The new commissioner in
dicated basic sympathy with
the popular view that tax laws
= and tax forms - are just
too complicated. Laws should
be understandable to the great
bulk Of society,"" he said. When
they are not, I'VE are inviting
widespread disregard Of the
laws, leading to innocent as
well as calculated violations. f."
Favors 1O4O Change
The basic form 1040. Mr..
Caplin noted, owes much Of
its complexity to the special
tax code provisions on sick
pay exclusion. dividend exclu-
sion. dividend credit and re-
tirement income credit.
He proposed eliminating
these four special provisions,
in return for a decrease in the
tax rate for the bottom brack-
ct Of income from 20 to 10 per
cent.
A similar proposal came from
Mr.. Catlin at the top Of the
scale. He suggested maximum
rates be lowered from 90 per
cent to 65 per cent, with enough
Of the special tax relief meas
ures that are popular among
high-bracket persons eliminat-
ed to make up any loss Of reve-
nue..
Other Proposals
Among the other changes in
the tax code proposed by the
new Commissioner are:
Permission for taxpayers to
average their incomes over a
series Of years for tax purposes.
to avoid the need for special
treatment of capital gains.
Imposition Of much tighter
restrictions on capital gains in
Guiding q minimum one-year
holding period and stricter
standards in determining the
value Of charitable contribu-
tions.
Reduction Of all depletion al
lowances and requirement of
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