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Show The Enterprise Review , November 10, 1976 Page 7b Construction Healthy Continued from page 4b Even at the present rate of construction, he said, contractors are still not providing housing for a large segment of the public due to the rapidly rising cost of materials and labor. Of the 5,981 units built thus far in 1976, Romney said 4,474 are single family homes. There were 3,055 units with less than 1400 Staff IKK square feet of space or about 73 percent of the total single family units built. Feather-ston- e believes this is a good indicator that middle income and low income families are buying new homes. For the year ending Dec. 31, the Home Builders Association is projecting total construction of 7,200 units. Surfer vans have invaded Utah , near doubling Salt Lake auto dealers sales. NOW AVAILABLE! Wheels Enjoy Popularity , High Sales Motel-on- - Far removed from the sun and surf atmosphere of Southern California beaches, the newest and symbol of the d surfer is flourishing in brawny, Salt Lake City. Surfer vans, those veritable beach huts on wheels, are promoting surfer fame and van sales in an unlikely arid market. Ironically, most area car dealers distributing the custom buggies rely on the overall practicality of the vehicles, rather than their associated imagery, to sell the far-fam- ed sun-tanne- vans. Originating in California, the beach machines have spread in popularity Prime Business Park Office Space throughout the entire country. Salt Lakp area dealers report a near "doubling of flashy vans sales and say they dont expect the van market to peak for another four or five years. Santana Vans, a San Mateo, Calif, based division of Fleetwood Enterprises, is distributing its unique van packages to two Utah auto dealers, Ogdens Rawson and Lund Pontiac, GMC dealer, has contracted to buy from Santana as has Murrays House of Compacts. The Murray dealership 71 vans through the first nine purchased months of 1976 in its first year of van sales. Continued on Page 9b in South Salt Lake. 500 to 13,000 Sq. Ft Finish to suit client. Adjacent freeway locations. Call Gregory Gunn 486-39- 1 1 PRICE RENTALS, INC. Ijjji lib A SUBSIDIARY OF PRICE INDUSTRIES CORPORATION 35 CENTURY PARK-WASALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 841 15 Death and Taxes Taxes On Inflation by Rex Keeler, Manager, Executive Tax Service McConahays, your diamond counsellors Inflation has paralyzed our economy for several years. Recently, there have been many new and oversimplified proposals to halt its swelling tide. The fact of the matter is: inflation is becoming a way of life with the American people and it is disheartening to discover the acceptance of this menace among the general public. In the recent Tax Reform Act, Congress failed to correct a major tax inequity caused by inflation, namely long term capital gains tax. A fundamental concept in income taxes is the ability of I.R.S. to tax all income regardless of its source. For example, if you purchase a piece of land for $4,000 and later sold it for $6,000, you would be taxed on the $2,000. If you held the land for more than six months, then you would benefit from capital gains treatment. Now, suppose you purchased this land 10 years ago for $4,000 and through inflation, the number of dollars you can receive for the land has increased to $6,000. The value of the land, relative to other properties, has not increased. But you are still taxed on the $2,000 gain if you sell the land. Whether you owned the land one year or 50, you are taxed on the gain, not the increase in value , The law on capital gains has been revised to facilitate write-ofof larger capital losses. For 1976, $1,000 of f the income can be offset by capital losses, in 1977, this will increase to $2,000 and $3,000 after 1977. Normally, if a sale qualifies as a long term capital gain, the gain is taxed at one-hayour normal tax rate. The difference between short term capital gain and long term capital gain is the amount of time the property is held. For 1976, the property must be held for more than six months to qualify as a long term capital gain. For 1977, this is extended to nine months and thereafter for twelve months. If you dabble in the stock market, this extension of the holding period can make a sizeable difference. Congress needs to take one more step towards reform: It can help alleviate the problem inflation has inflicted on the tax structure by introducing another time factor in computing the tax on long term capital gains. Under present law, 50 deduction would increase by 3 for each year held over ten years. Under present law the above example would result in $1 ,000 of income being taxed. If the same property was held 20 years, this new concept would reduce the amount to $200 and help offset the arbitary gain imposed by inflation. Exclusive , elite , elegant . Our unusual collection ofjewelry , diamonds , and other gem stones typifies the atmosphere of McConahay v. Our gem experts will counsel you on the investment value of diamonds as a lovely and lasting gift . See us soon for a personal consultation . lf JEWELRY PLAZA MEZZANINE-DESER- ET CERTIFIED GEMOLOGIST AMERICAN GEM SOCIETY 15 E. 1st South 363-593- 6 |