Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Masonic Officers. At the meeting Monday night Amity lodge, No. 87, A. F. M., following officers, both elective appointive, were . installed im diately following their selection: W. M.?Jesse Y. Jones. S. W.?Geo. C. Hipp. J. W.?Claude C. Smith. Treasurer?T. P. Johnson. Secretary-r-J. W. Earhardt. n S. D.?N. C. Toole. J. D.?W. G. Bullock. Stewards?John W. Waldrop ; T. M. Neel. > Sentinel?W. S. Mann. ^iv Giraffe Hard to See. i ' ' f~, The giraffe, although conspicuc J ly marked*, is almost invisible in L native forests where its color ble fjvicn me citt-s. RECOMMENDS CHANGES IN SYSTEM OF TAX T (Continued from page 6.) ; enue for South Carolina than any other state :n the union exc five Western states. South Carol stands out particularly amongst Souhern states for the small amoi x of revenue collected from Iicem Tf the bases for taxation are ca fully selected, business license ta: % are good taxes for state purpos They are productive of revenue, \ easily collected and are not unfav ably regarded by business men. appears from a brief examination > the available data that the Soi Carolina license taxes,are moder in amount, and cover only a sir fraction of the possible busin y* which could be made tojpay si licenses. On the other hand, bef? extending the field of such taxati ?+ cVi/knM that mun ?4* gaVUAU ?/v ^ polities levy similar taxes and tl license taxes, if based on volume basin ess or on other indices of 1 paying ability, become closely al to income taxes, and involve the &' ger of double taxation of the sa "t:- objects. "\ Tv? y ;~ > A comparison of the per cap > revenue receipts fi%m. such, taxes s the percentage of such tax sever to total revenue fotf South Caroli . . and other states is presented in J - psndix C. Some Recommendations. Recommendations regarding: 1 y tax commission: The chief need i revision of the existing administ tive machinery in /"connection w the tax system relates to the pis ia the tax system held by the 1 commission. The establishment tike tax commission marked a distil improvement in the tax system of 1 state, and the most certain and e iest way of insuring further impro ? TOrtnW hp hv amendment of 1 act creating the tax commission so to enlarge its powers1 and incre: its facilities for rendering seryi The people of South Carolina shoi be made aware of the value of 1 services which a powerful cent tax commission can render, and making its appropriations the lej; latnre should-not be niggardly, 1 should make ample prevision competent and sufficient clerical he working suppKes and office space, the confidence that the results woi fully repay such expenditure, the other handv it isjabt clear tl the tax bo^rd of review 311s a use funcHon in tb* state which coi not be better nf:rformed by the 1 commission, while , its- existence w powers of review of decisions of 1 tax commission must weaken 1 presitge and authority of the lat body. As to Tax Commission. The following amendments co act creating the tax commission j recommended: . 3. To grant to the. tax comi sion explicitly the sole power to hi fc" appeals fiom county boards of ass f aors. f 2. To grant to tlie tax comn sion unlimited power to fix the fi. k assessment of property in order th ft when assessment by local officials j pears to be inefficiently or unfai ?- ? - * a. , fully done, representative ui me i commission may reassess the pr erty concerned. 3. To give to the tax commiss; greater powers of supervision o' local assessing officials and auth ity to penalize local officials in i eordance with provisions to be I ?. down in the law, where they fail ; perform or perform improperly t duties of assessment. The tax cc E shnnld be granted the illllDSlVu thority to recommend to the g ernor the discharge o/ unfaithful incompetent assessing officials. 4. To authorize -the tax comn sion to impose upon persons or c porations, who cause increased penditure on the part of the comn sion by failure to report promptly accurately the amount of their pr erty assessable for taxation under law, penalties proportional to Amount of increased expenditure '$r? $ " < r caused. 5. To require the members of the tax commission to give their whole ^ie time to the work of the commission, an(* and to provide they be remunerated me" for such work on a basis adequate to induce competent men to accept and to retain positions on the commission. 6. To require that appeals from decisions of the tax commission should go in the first instance to'the commission itself for a rehearing. j, It is strongly recommended that the decisions of the tax commission be made final, but if this is not considered desirable, it is recommended that appeal shall be allowed after reconsideration by the tax commission, ,us- to a court of justice. lts 7. To enable the tax commission n<^s to make a comprehensive land survey of the state. (Sufficient funds should be prv/.iaed to enable the tax com? mission to enlarge its staff and to ES make more rapid progress in the * equalization of property throughout the state, and in the development of closer contact with the persons and machinery of primary assessment of . property.). ma ; the state clearly that the tax commission is entrusted with the gen,es era! supervision of the entire tax ? svstem. and not of the property tax ire- xes on!-v5es# Recommendations regarding the are tax board of review: It is recomor_ i mended that the tax board of review It be abolished. This will require stat0f utory change. If this recommendation ath is not adopted, at the very least the ate tax board of review should not be iaU authorized to receive appeals from ess the decisions of the tax commission lch until after reconsideration of pro[)re j tested decisions by the tax commis on) sion itself. If the tax board is re[cj. tained, the .basis of appointment hat thereto should be changed by stat0f ute to a given term of years, without I tax respect to the term ot office of the j kin governor appointing them, and it | an_ should he required by statute, for me members of the tax board of review as for members of the state tax com-1 ita mission, that they should have spe-j in(j cial qualifications for their duties. | ine f As to Local Officers. inaj Recommendations regarding/ local ^P- assessing officers: The recommendation of the tax commission that morej adequate compensation and addition- j ihe al remunerated time be allowed to all j for boards of assessors, and that the ra- governor should be given/ authority ith to remove any county or township; ice officer who shall neglect, faii or re- j ax fuse to perform his duties with ref-! i of erence to the assessment of property! act in accordance with the law,- should j Jie be followed. Section 382, Volume I, i as- of the Code of Laws, 1912, should be j ve- amended by the insertion <>f the the words "or shall neglect or fail to peras form/' The local assessing officials ise should explicitly be made subject to, ce* the general authority of and to the j ild rules and regulations issued by the j the tax commission. ral The recommendations made above in require statutory changes pnly. i fis- Recommendations regarding the )ut general property tax: The general j for property tax was subjected above "to! severe criticism. The defects pointed | in out may be divided into two groups:] aid those grounded on questions of prin-j On ciple in taxation; and those groundhat ed on the tax as administered in j ftd South Carolina. In the first group be-1 aid long^ the criticism of the tax on the j i&x grounds that gross property is not a j ith sufficient index of taxpaying ability" j the and that intangible property invarithe ably escapes its due share of the ter taxation under any administration of the tax. The second group of criticisms either have been already met the by the recommendations made for ire changes in the tax administrative machinery of the state, or will be lis- taken up in connection with the dissar cus&ion of the first group which foles lows. An improvement in the property lis- tax would -be effected if it were pracnal ticable to tax persons on their net lat, property, their excess of asests over ap- liabilities, instead of their gross th- property. Any attempt to introduce tax guch a refinement into the tax sysop tem would lead, however, to a wholesale extension of tax evasion, since ion j no check is possible on a man's lia bilities witnout sucn a ciose mspecor tion and accounting of his books as ac- would be too difficult and expensive aid j an undertaking for the state mato jchinery of administration, even if the the ^ resentment and irritation on the part >m- of taxpayers against inquisitorial au- tax officials did not result in a genov eral breakdown in the machinery, or Should Change Plan. The inequality in taxation and the nis- Joss in revenue which results from or- the escape from assessment 01 mex tangible property is not capable of nis- remedy so long as the property tax or is retained as a general property tax, *** ' 1 -? r\ ? v v>ntm . up-1ana as uit? mam ^uuac ui IUA the , nue. It may as well be acknowledged the ( that intangibles can not be reached so^by the assessors. The constitutional (requirement for uniform taxation ,a j should be atbolished, if for no other c 'reason than that the law .should re- t I quire nothing to be done which is t incapable of being enforced in prac- c tice. The inoperative provisions of a s system of law weaken the power of f the administrative officials in en- c j forcing the remaining provisions. 3 iUntil revision of the constitution is t (possible, the present unsuccessful f !attempts to obtain compliance with a I this provision should be tactily aban- o doned. t A solution which has been offered P for the universal tendency of differ- r ent classes of property to escape as- jsessment in different degree is the a | use of a "graded" or "classified" [property "tax. The essence of this j proposal is to reduce rates upon each e j class of property until the natural n | inclination to be honest overcomes t !the temptation to evade the tax. 3 1 This nlnn nf rpdnrinf? the rates has h J been tried in some instances with v jvery successful results so far as the t ) yield of the tax is concerned, espe- a jcially in Pennsylvania and Balti- c 'more. But it does not succeed in n ! wholly eliminating tax evasion, and s it does not bring about equality of t taxation. Moreover, in South Caro- s lina the use of this method would p J require a revision of the constitu-ja jtion. e The Income Tax. P The best index of taxpaying aibility & is, the income tax. Before proceed- e ing to* a discussion of this tax, how- a ever, it should be pointed out that it a can not act by itself as a satisfactory substitute for all property taxation, t especially in a state like South Caro- b lina, where a large part of the popu- c jlation which pays property taxes s | .would not be subject to income tax- c ation under an income tax law of the d usual sort. ii Real property derives certain spe- e cial advantages from the govern- 11 ment, for which a payment may rea| sonably be demanded. The owner of s I in aUIa 1\A1T +OV h i pivpcitjr id ucwtci auic tv paj taA- r ation than the person of equal in- 11 come but with no property. The to- 15 tal abandonment of property taxa- v ftion would be a drastic experiment, * 'and -might bring a dangerous deple? s !tion of state and local revenue until ^ | the experimental period of operation P of the substitute taxes had been gone r through. ? b I Recommendations as to changes in ? the general property 'tax are made as follows: 1. That all real property be taxed P on 100 per cent, assessment of its P value and at a materially lower rate. The rate should be made lower than I s the present rate, even after allow- J & ance for the higher assessment, in!0 order both to induce more complete |P returns of property for taxation, and to allow for the new additional taxes P to be recommended below. It should a be made low enough, so that full and tl accurate assessment will not result in f excessive and destructive taxation, e. It has been almost the universal ex- n nnna. /vf rv+hor ctafoc +.VlJ?+ n Hft- S yVXAViiW VJ. v/vitvi WWMWM ... ,, crease'in the rate of property taxa-ja tion to reasonable level resulted in[e I ' . . 'v : . ' " ' '. >:i State property tax statistics, 1919 Per capita State. from propert; South Carolina $1.66 Delaware 1.66 Maryland S.35 Virginia 1.83 West Virginia* 1.56 North Carolina 1.29 Georgia 1.73 Florida 2.96 All South Atlantic States l.$9 New England States 5.44 Middle Atlantic States 3.82 East North Central States 3.42 West North Central States 2.70 East South Central States 2.11 West South Central States 2.80 Mountain States 5.09 Pacific States 3.50 ! All States 3.25 State license tax statistics, 1919 Busir V State. Per capita South Carolina $ .18 Delaware 5.30 Maryland 2.63 j Virginia 2.02 ! V/est Virginia 1.15 | North Carolina 58 ! fipnro-in 81 } Florida 8S j South Atlantic States 1.09 j New England States 2.73 | Middle Atlantic States.... 2.13 j East North Central States 1.45 { West North Central States 1.65 j East South Central States 70 i West South Central States 94 Mountain States 1.14 Pacific States 3.27 All States 1.62 "Compiled from U. S. "bureau of tl I ' states, 191U, pp. 03. ? "Including: non-tax receipts. The next article will contain: 3. come tax; 2, recommendations for a yields under a reformed tax system; < state and local district; 5, statistics oi i tance taxes, .. - V i . .\ ' i marked and almost immediate in- |H :rease in the amount of property re- I urnea for taxation. In many cases ! he lower rate was more productive 8 >f revenue than the higher rate. But ince the "general property tax at g >resent is by far the principal source I >f revenue for South Carolina and | ince the revenue is now inadequate 1.1 o meet the needs of the state for I unds, it would be foolish to rely on , reduction of the rate of taxation in real property, and a total elimina- 8 ion of direct taxes on personal iroperty, to bring an increase in D evenue adequate for the needs of 1 he state. Reliance must be had on M. dditional sources of tax revenue. B Personal Property. | 2. That personal tangible prop- I rty, consisting of plant anci equip- |H tient, stocks of goods in trade, cat le, and other income producing per- I onal tangible property be taxed at. I he same rate as real property, but I ritiT? the provision that receipts for I he payment of such taxes shall be ccepted at 50 per cent, or at 100 per ent. of their amount toward paylent of income taxation by the peron or persons against whom such axes were assessed. The purpose of uch taxation would be to assure the layment of a proper amount of taxtion by such businesses as might scape or avoid income taxation; the urpose of the abatement of income axation upon assurance that prop rty taxes had been paid being to void excessive and destructive tax- I tion. 5 "3. That attempts to tax either inangible property, or personal tangile property which does not yield in-' ome, be abandoned because it is unuccessful in producing revenue, beause it is conducive .to perjury and ishonesty, and because income yieldag intangible property can be reachd much more effectively through an ncome tax. The abolition of taxaion of intangible property and of uch personal tangible property as lousehold effects would at once re-j nove a great burden from the admin- . strative machinery of the state,; rould promote greater respect on Un nAvi /V-P -f-ttn favnOTJO* flio +J?V lie paib UL U1C Vi. AV*. VMV ystem of the state, and would reieve him from the most irritating art of the tax system. The loss of evenue would be so small it would e largely offset by the saving in the xpense of tax collection. 4. That the constitutional provis:>n with regard to the^tax for school urposes be removed, or if its purcse is to enforce upon the local disricts adequate expenditures for * * ^1..^ tt.. ?J... i? i cnooi purposes, max; me rate ue x.cuced to correspond to the amount f revenue it would yield if real roperty were fully assessed. The carrying out of any adequate rogram of reform of property taxtion would require the repeal of he constitutional provisions; first! or the uniform taxation of all pioprty, and second for a tax of three 4-r\ Via "Fat* I litis cm itH ynjycn,yi tu uv UUV.U *V . chool purposes. It would require' lso the enactment of. a new proprty tax law. j < C . ' Per cent of proprevenue erty tax revenue to y taxes. total tax revenue. 90. 20. 56. '43. r,4. [ 67. . 81. 76. 61. 66. 60. 69. 63. 74. 71* ; 80. 52. 65. f i less and non-business license taxes. | Pot* f?ontv nf t.otfll ! receipts. revenue receipts. 7.2 63.2 33.4 39.3 30.9 21.8 11.4 19.3 27.5 26.9 29.8 o* n j 22.2 I 1S.0 18.3 * 11.7 36.2 25.3 | le census, financial statistics of j | Recommendations for a state instate inheritance tax; 3, estimated I, division of revenue between the - - * ? j t ?---?1! . t r ; |R r !' [ : The Best Adve in Newber t -.. j* \ - ' ' : / / fliHHHi J / * .... ;/ ' f , < ! * The Herald 1 Hp WBKm WBtM ' W Twice a Week $2.( ^ . / <* '? . ~ ! 1 ; / , ; / . . High Grade I Printing N I II ??M???, III I. I . rtising Medium . 7 > ? v ry County ' ' . 'e; . ' i. , - / f ' ' ' ' '' ' -C.-'v' V : ' ;; \ .1.: \? r . />,:-f ' ... ... ... ' ; '? ;/ .. V. . . r - Vi '%M , ' '; * I ' .: mmmmm * * ' and News V ' ' * ' . 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