Taxes

“ Indirect taxes can be evaded by abstaining from the activity that is taxed. They can usually also be shifted to others, and are generally paid by the consumer, or user of the article that is taxed. In general, direct taxes are levied by the State and municipal governments, while the National government derives its revenue (with the exception of the income tax) mainly from indirect taxes. ”

“ The Different Kinds of Taxes.—In the economic development of states taxes have come to be grouped in different ways, according to variations in the method of levying them or the means of enforcing compulsion or other differences. One of the most usual divisions is into direct and indirect taxes. Taxes are distinguished as direct, because they are charged directly upon the tax-payer from whose income they are supposed to be taken. ”

“ The taxes will be laid for different purposes. The members of the one government, as well as of the other, are the agents of, and subordinate to, the people. I conceive that the collection of the taxes of the one will not impede that of the other, and that there can be no interference. ”

“ By the power to lay and collect taxes, they may proceed to direct taxation on every individual, either by a capitation tax on their heads, or an assessment on their property. By this part of the section, therefore, the government has power to lay what duties they please on goods imported ”

“ Income and excess profits taxes. National Taxes.—The national government, by reason of its need for larger revenues in recent years, has resorted to many forms of taxation. At the present time the principal sources of national revenue are the taxes on the incomes of corporations and individuals, the customs duties, the excises, and the inheritance taxes. The national income taxes are levied upon the net earnings of all individuals, partnerships, and corporations above a certain minimum. ”

“ In levying excise taxes the most ample authority has been recognized from the beginning to select some and omit other possible subjects of taxation, to select one calling and omit another, to tax one class of property and to forbear to tax another. ”

“ The answer is, taxation. In what respect shall it be not greater than the rate assessed upon other capital? We see that Congress had in its mind an assessment, a rate of assessment, and a valuation; and, taking all these together, the taxation on these shares was not to be greater than on other moneyed capital.
'When taxes have been properly decided upon, an assessment may become an indispensable proceeding in the establishment of any individual charge, against either person or property. ”

“ Bills for increased revenue were hurriedly introduced, and new taxes were loaded upon the broad shoulders of the millionaires of the nation;—taxes on checks, taxes on certificates of incorporation, taxes on deeds and mortgages, taxes on pleasure yachts, taxes on private parks and plaisances, taxes on wills of all property above $5,000 in value, taxes on all gifts of realty for and in consideration of natural love and affection, taxes on all passage tickets to foreign lands, and double taxes on the estates of all absentees on and after the lapse of six months. ”

“ A “tax” means an imposition to raise money. Such persons therefore as speak of internal and external “taxes,” I pray may pardon me, if I object to that expression, as applied to the privileges and interests of these colonies. There may be internal and external impositions, founded on different principles, and having different tendencies; every “tax” being an imposition, tho’ every imposition is not a “tax.” But all taxes are founded on the same principle ”

“ Income taxes.—A favorite device in some countries, [pg 361] and often advocated in this, is a direct tax upon incomes above a certain amount, graduated so as to give a much larger rate upon large incomes than upon more moderate ones. The most obvious reason for such a distinction against the large incomes is the evident failure of our national system of taxation to distribute the burden according to ability. ”

“ Though sales and use taxes may secure the same revenues and serve complementary purposes, they are, as we have indicated, taxes on different transactions and for different opportunities afforded by a State. ”

“ No tax can be imposed except for the general advantage. All citizens have the right to participate in the establishment of taxes, to watch over the employment of them, and to cause an account of them to be rendered. ”

“ The ability of a country to pay taxes must always be proportioned, in a great degree, to the quantity of money in circulation, and to the celerity with which it circulates. Commerce, contributing to both these objects, must of necessity render the payment of taxes easier, and facilitate the requisite supplies to the treasury. ”

“ We must pay taxes upon every article which enters into the mouth or covers the back, or is placed under the foot. Taxes upon everything which is pleasant to see, hear, feel, smell, and taste. Taxes upon warmth, light, and locomotion. Taxes upon everything upon earth and the waters under the earth. On everything that comes from abroad or is grown at home. Taxes on raw material. Taxes on every value that is added to it by the industry of man. ”

“ Sufficient revenue to pay all the expenses of the Federal Government, economically administered, including pensions, interest and principal of the public debt, can be got under our present system of taxation from custom-house taxes on fewer imported articles, bearing heaviest on articles of luxury, and bearing lightest on articles of necessity. ”

“ Such must be the operation of all taxes on sales or exchanges. The owner in reality pays it, whether laid on the vender or purchaser. It matters not in the sale of a tract of land, or any other article, if a tax be imposed on the sale, whether it be paid by him who sells or him who buys, the amount must, in both cases, be deducted from the price. ”

“ A use tax is a tax on the enjoyment of that which was purchased. In view of the differences in the basis of these two taxes and the differences in the relation of the taxing state to them, a tax on an interstate sale like the one before us and unlike the tax on the enjoyment of the goods sold, involves an assumption of power by a State which the Commerce Clause was meant to end. ”

“ The taxes on expenditure at present in force, either in this or in other countries, fall only on particular kinds of expenditure, and differ no otherwise from taxes on commodities than in being paid directly by the person who consumes or uses the article, instead of being advanced by the producer or seller, and reimbursed in the price. The taxes on horses and carriages, on dogs, on servants, are of this nature. They evidently fall on the persons from whom they are levied—those who use the commodity taxed. ”

“ Unlike fees, they are levied upon real estate and are applied for the purpose of enhancing the value of that real estate. See Tax and Taxation.
(4) Taxes. — In the three kinds of payment thus far discussed, there is in general a direct benefit to the individual, and the payment is only made in exchange for a direct service of the State. In this they differ radically from taxes. The latter are forced contributions to the public treasury. In practice, as in the most advanced financial theory, taxes rest upon the duty of citizens to support the State. ”

“ The owner of an apartment house collects taxes from his tenants in the form of rent; the storekeeper collects taxes in the price of his goods; the lawyer and the doctor collect taxes when they charge fees. Taxes are an element in the cost of everything, an element just as certain as interest, wages, or profit. Everyone who rents a house, buys goods, or hires any form of service pays taxes. ”

“ Were all taxes placed upon land values, irrespective of improvements, the scheme of taxation would be so simple and clear, and public attention would be so directed to it, that the valuation for taxation could and would be made with the same certainty as when a real estate agent determines the price a seller can get for a lot. ”

“ A system of taxation may be defective; more may be raised from the people, than what finds its way into the coffers of the state, as a part, in consequence of its effect on prices, may possibly be received by those, who are benefited by the peculiar mode in which taxes are laid. ”

“ The public revenues are derived from customs, taxes, various inland and consumption taxes, state monopolies, the government wharves, posts and telegraphs, &c. The customs taxes include import and export duties, surcharges, harbour dues, warehouse charges, &c.; the inland taxes comprise consumption taxes on alcohol, tobacco, sugar and matches, stamps and stamped paper, capital and mining properties, licences, transfers of property, &c. ”

“ For, since thirty per centum yields a revenue of twenty-six millions, one per centum will bring about nine hundred thousand; and every million of dollars derived from lands will reduce your taxation on imports only nine hundred thousand; if you get a million and a half from the lands, it will reduce the taxes only from thirty to twenty-eight and a half per centum; or if you get three millions, as some gentlemen insist will be the case, then you will save taxes in the amount of the difference between thirty per centum and about twenty-seven per centum. ”

“ This checking of production is in greater or less degree characteristic of most of the taxes by which the revenues of modern governments are raised. All taxes upon manufactures, all taxes upon commerce, all taxes upon capital, all taxes upon improvements, are of this kind. ”

“ The fiscal system aims at satisfying the financial needs of the State and other public bodies, as well as a fair partition of the incomes and the wealth. (2) Taxes are created by law, which determines the incidence rates, concessions, and safeguards for taxpayers. ”

“ Article 90.—Every member of the nation who is of age and capable of earning money is bound to participate in the national expenditure by paying a tax. This tax is annual, and the basis of its distribution is the capacity of the individual.
Article 91.—There are two kinds of national taxes—one general, for general expenses and collected by the Patriarchate for the National Central Treasury, the other special, for the special expenses of each quarter, and collected by the Councils of the quarters for their private treasuries. ”

“ The administration of taxation should be economical, certain, and uniform. Whatever taxes are adopted, whether on property or income, whether at a proportional or a progressive rate, their justice and expediency depend largely on their administration. ”

“ Indirect taxes are those not levied upon the various persons or the property of the district, but are placed upon some article of consumption or some article of manufacture, upon imports and exports, or some privilege or pleasure. ”

“ So far as it falls upon the inhabitants, it is one of those taxes which fall, not upon one only, but indifferently upon all the three different sources of revenue, and is in every respect of the same nature as a tax upon any other sort of consumable commodities. ”

“ Of taxes on contracts, the most important are those on the transfer of property; chiefly on purchases and sales. Taxes on the sale of consumable commodities are simply taxes on those commodities. If they affect only some particular commodities, they raise the prices of those commodities, and are paid by the consumer. ”

“ There were received from the same sources 20,654,000 dollars in the years 1815, 1816 and 1817.
The preparatory measures necessary, in order to insure an immediate collection of internal taxes, whenever the laws imposing such taxes shall have been passed, are those on which I may speak with confidence. These consist simply in a previous organization of the machinery necessary for the collection of every species of internal taxes, and the assessment of a direct tax. [Pg 56] The proper selection of the numerous officers necessary for the collection always consumes several months. ”

“ Any person failing to make such registry and pay such tax, shall, in addition to all other taxes upon his business imposed by the act, pay double the amount of the specific tax on such business, and a like sum for every thirty days of such failure. ”

“ Taxes shall be levied and collected for public purposes only. They shall be uniform upon all property subject to taxation within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax; and all taxes shall be levied and collected by general laws.' By § 172: 'All property, not exempted from taxation by this Constitution, shall be assessed for taxation at its fair cash value, estimated at the price it would bring at a fair voluntary sale ”

“ Most briefly stated; they imply equity, definiteness, convenience of paying, and economy in collecting.
Most legislation with reference to taxes shows some effort to carry out one, if not all, of these requirements. It is evident that a tax may be conveniently [pg 351] paid in connection with ordinary expenditures, and at the same time be very indefinite and quite inequitable. Many taxes upon articles of every-day use in the home are of this nature. ”

“ It appeared, however, from the statements to which the Secretary had alluded, that the tax on stills, the carriage tax, the tax on licenses, on sales at auction, and the tax on refined sugar, had been included in one class, and the expense of collecting all those taxes, without distinguishing the charges on each branch, had been stated to be nearly twenty per cent., whilst the expense of collecting the stamp duty, another branch of the internal taxes, was short of five per cent., varying only a fraction from the charges on the revenue from impost and tonnage. ”