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Show Somebody Has to Pay the Bill LOUIS E. HOSCH of Chicago, technical consultant con-sultant lor the) American Public Welfare f ' naaoctatlon. speaking before the Utah State I Conference of Social Work recently, attacked the sale tax as unjust and advocated Instead increases In Income and property taxes to finance? fi-nance? relief. Mr. Hoech argued that the sales tax was unfair un-fair because It was a burden on the poor and needy, tha very people w ,r trying to help through the relief program which the sales tax finances. It Is true that tht talea tax Is paid by those tm relief and tha very poor as well as by those In moderate circumstancea and the wealthy; and thus to the extent that it taxes the very poor lor tha relief of the very poor It may seem to be working at cross-purposes. But there are two things Mr. Hosch didn't aaeatloa. First, the reason the sales tax was adopted originally was because property taxes failed to produce needed revenue and there was grave ' danger they were becoming so heavy as to be confiscatory. If we now abandon the sales taxes and heap even heavier taxes on property and Income than we had before, we will have worse tax troubles than we had back in 1932 and 1933. Excessive Income taxation will destroy de-stroy Incentive and drive those with large incomes in-comes out of the state. Excessive property taxation will result In nonpayment of taxes and ultimately wreck private ownership or property. ' Second, the sales tax has the distinct advantage ad-vantage of being one tax which everyone pays and knows he pays. It brings home to all those who advocate excessive government spending that somebody has to pay the bill. It's all too easy to demand more spending If you think someone else la paying for lt-rven though In actuality everybody carries the burden of heavy taxation Indirectly concealed In rent and the prices of things he buys. The truth of the matter Is that If Mr. Hosch nd public welfare experts are really concerned about the sales tax and feel It is an evil, then they had better get to the root of the evil and work to eliminate It not by substituting for It what might easily prove an even greater evil, but rather by curtailing excessive government pending which made the sales tax necessary. . |