Show InsI revenue I 1 s Eterna lP problem income tax spectre haunts next session of congress by BAUKHAGE news analyst and commentator washington it is a cloudy fall day and the last tattered brown leaves are fluttering nervously on otherwise bare branches wondering whether it is better to make the plunge now or wait for more favorable breezes about the same thing ingoing Is going on in an old colonial mansion on connecticut avenue where beneath those high ceilings and once aristocratic surroundings republican national committee typewriters are clackin clicking 91 mimeographing machines are whirring and sweet telephone bells jung jangle ae out of 0 tune party leaders like the uncertain I 1 leaves ves are wondering whether the awl twice ce vetoed tax bill carefully re up upholstered hols and furnished with w what hat t they hey hope in non equipment will bring in the votes this time down the block and across the atre street et in an office building where tile the plaster on the walls Is hardly dry sit it their op po t es members of the democratic national committee in their brand new quarters they are hopefully p r e dieting dieling that any effort to make this tax deduc tion bill a law when the world is trembling on the edge ot of disaster will boom baukhage erang democrats say that if a tax reduction bill should pass is vetoed and a nd the veto overridden what it does for the folks with over income a y year ear will be balanced oft off by what wha t it t do for the tha folks below that income bracket you yon remember the original bi bill 11 HR 10 1 the he first bill into the house bouse hopper january 3 1917 1017 at that time democrats la belled it the 10 20 30 bill oba claimed aimed it w would ou id save the man with two dependents and 2500 a year income only 59 cents a week while it would save the man with a yearly income a week but that tax reduction bill and a later one substantially the same were squashed by presidential vet veto 0 and congress upheld the veto B but u t now the possibility of something new and very attractive has been added A community property tax provision lor for every taxpayer briefly this means that a husband and wife may divide their income into two equal parts computing the tax on each of those parts and multiplying ti by two this naturally cuts the total amount ot of tax to be paid under present tax schedules for or example tile the tax on two joint incomes of each comes to less than the tax on a net income because of the steeply graduated surtax rates GOP COP confident of bills passage thirteen states oregon washington california new mexico arizona nevada idaho texas oklahoma louisiana nebraska michigan and pennsylvania already have community property tax provisions so has hawaii the provision if inserted in a federal tax bill would put citizens of the other 33 35 states on the same basis the money savings under the community property tax clause would not benefit those married couples v whose liose combined net income is less than because the rates dont change up to that point that is why opponents say bay this community property tax proposal too Is aimed at saving money for or the bigger taxpayers and help out the little fellows although the tax advisor to the ways and means committee tells me that neither would any benefits accrue under this provision to the married couple whose combined income is a year but the republicans feel sure sore that this proposal would carry a tx tax reducing bill through they claim aim many democrats living in states elates contiguous to the community property tax states would support it heres the way democrats view the situation they know that the lait tax bin bill might have been passed over the veto some say it certainly could have been passed had it included the community property tax provision they are not flippant about the republicans ability to muster the necessary two thirds vote this time to override a veto but democrats nourish this hope that if tax debate is insisted upon upon before the question of lower prices and european aid including the long range marshall plan as ai well as emergency aid is settled the public will say republicans are fiddling with politics while europe burn bums and will repudiate those republicans at the polls even if a tax bill should surmount the veto hurdle democrats still hope it will boomerang on the familiar argument mentioned earlier that it gives uncommonly little to the common man and is balm ot of gilead tor for the high brackets republicans counter with the assertion that tax ax relief Is a cry ing need they feel americans will not be too angry if their financial load I 1 Is 9 lightened at the expense of europe provided that emergency relief Is vo voted ted and perhaps a marshall plan accepted in principle but considerably shaved down as to the total actually authorized you may have read the report taxes and the file budget a program for prosperity in a free economy a document issued by the non parti son san nonprofit non profit committee for economic development this group employs a large staff of experts who study governmental problems and report on them at frequent intervals there Is much in this latest report to give aid and comfort to the tax reduction school but it also contains the warning that it Is not necessary or desirable to make final d decisions e about 1948 1943 ta tax x policies a at t this time it will be necessary essary early next year at that time it will be possible to get a clearer picture ot of the expenditure outlook ahead and ot of the degree of 0 inflationary pressure su re which then exists 1 1 but the question of inflationary pressure and how to ease it is already a highly political one both parties realize that they have to grab the reins if they are going to get credit for guiding the country out of a boom bust cycle bi bipartisanship apple cart tipped when president truman revealed the fact that he intended to use the emergency session of congress convening november 17 not merely to consider aid to europe but also to ponder a program for lowered prices it upset the apple cart as one republican said to me an agreement had been reached to give priority to aid to 1 I europe senator 1 0 taft boss of the reau republican bi lean policy committee immediately made the reassuring a statement t a t e me nt that he felt the he question of emergency aid and k possible prell preliminary MI legislation on the marshall plan taft could and would be satisfactorily taken care of by december 19 he say gay what else il anything lie he had in mind for the boys on the hill to handle but he did assure them they well would id be home well before the christmas holidays then came the truman announcement men t that efforts to check inflation would be considered on a par with the aid to europe plan he said the two were closely interwoven be cause it if the dollar continued to shrink the purchases of supplies be stretched to meet the need after that tatt taft lost little time in tossing any implied partisan bipartisan bi program tor for the congressional session to the winds it if truman was to include consideration of a domestic economy program all bets were off all of the policies of the present administration said senator taft were so bad he go along with them and so the til bl partisan apple cart was upset what is going to happen Is decidedly hazy bazy at this writing |