Show UR N STOCK NU B BONDS S II 3 B B F E O 0 ROWE HOWE DISCUSSES AS AZ ASSESSMENT ASS S S OF OP F CORPORATIONS NS American Economic Association Be De Begins Begins gins Its I ts Sessions in Detroit i The franchise Tax ax is Taken Op I Detroit Mich The Taxation 1 of Corporations was the subject discussed at the th initial initial session I of the thirteenth annual meeting of the American Economic association here herb today Professor B H Ely L Th DW pres president s ident of the society s announced announce Dr Frederick C Howe of Cleveland as as the first essayist e and he spoke as as follows I In recent rec nt the tendency has been back of the th taxation of property and away from the taxation of earn earnings earnings ings lags But instead of taxing railroad property by an inventory of its iti road oad roadbed roadbed bed right of way rolling stock etc under later laws the valuation has been made up from the stock and bonds of the company In some in instances instances instances stances this b been called a property tax in others franchise franchis tax and in the case ease of the Ford franchise tax law re recently recently centI passed In New York This T is is the method approved oved by the Pennsyl Pennsylvania vania vanla Tax Conference in its celebrated report of 1896 It is the method em employed employed employed in fn Connecticut and with some modifications has h s been adopted in Massachusetts New Jersey Ohio In Indiana Indiana Indiana diana and Illinois Illnois One of or the chief advantages of this tax lies in the fact that it has been ap approved approved approved proved by the United States courts Moreover Moreon r it treats the corporations as asan asan asan an entity a unit and values it as such Further than thi it adopts the valuation valuation valuation tion of the commercial world as evi en evidence eviden dence den e of the price for which stocks and and bonds have bave sold and an values the corpor corporation corporation atlon by hy adding to the market value of the stock of the company the par value of the bonds bends In some sone states this Is Js employed as to w all ail a l corpora corporations corporations corporations Under the Ford franchise tax x law la w which h t ro ieS upon up Q their franchises ss t a a their phys i property the assessments or Of street railways gas gaa g water ater electric lighting and similar simBar companies in the year 1900 were wre W re increased l over oyer oy r any apy rp j vi O u valuation upon the physical v Jue I only U Frederick erick N Judson of St StLouis Louis read Tead the second paper on the subject Fol Following Following Following lowing the tile papers there was a lively discussion participated in by Profess Professors ors E R Seligman of Columbia uni university James B Dill New York Ar Arthur Arthur Arthur thur J T 1 Eddy Chicago Chic o Professor Wil William WilI liam Ham R B Ripley of af the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and others 1 |