THE CONGRESS: The Last Tax Mile

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Tired of wrangling, tired of statistics, tired of taxes, the Senate Finance Committee tacked $456,000,000 more on the 1941 tax bill passed by the House, sent it out for debate. The Finance Committee was satisfied to get $3,672,400,000 in new taxes out of the public.

Gentle, grey-maned Senator Walter F. George was beaming. By sheer charm and persuasion he had talked the committee into dropping a $22,600,000 House-approved levy on soft drinks—a hard blow, had it passed, for the State of Georgia, home of Chairman George and Coca-Cola. Other changes: > Income-tax exemptions were lowered to $750 for single taxpayers, $1,500 for married couples, creating some 2,272,000 new taxpayers. But of the estimated $305,000,000 from lower exemptions, they will pay only about $10,000,000.

> For small wage-earners a simplified tax return is provided.

> In community-property States (e.g., California, Texas) married couples can no longer pool their incomes, divide the total, file separate returns in a lower bracket. They must base separate returns on actual earnings.

> Dropped from the Senate bill were the controversial levies on billboard advertising and income from radio sales.

Painful as it may be to taxpayers, the 1941 bill falls short of providing an effective brake on inflation. It will bring the Treasury some $13,000,000.000 in all. The Government will spend at least $22,000,000,000 in fiscal 1942—maybe a lot more. To preserve the Treasury's hoped-for ratio of 2-to-1 between money raised by taxation and money borrowed, revenues would have to be nearer $15,000,000,000.