AUTOMATIC AGE. $1.00 par year. Published bi-monthly by Automatic Age, Inc., 4021 N. Melvina Ave., Chicago. Entered as
second class matter February 20, 1943, at the Post Office at Chicago, 111., under the Act of March 3, 1897. Printed in U.S.A.
THE TAX WHIRLIGIG
No d o u b t members of the
coin machine industry h a v e
been reading in their d a i l y
newspapers a b o u t the “ Tax
simplification program.” The
official title of this new tax bill
is “ Individual Income Tax Act
of 1944.” On May 20, a f t e r
two days of a one-man filibust
er by Senator Langer of Indi
ana, the Senate approved the
House-approved bill streamlin
ing the income tax. Its purpose,
according to its sponsors, is to
r e l i e v e some 20,000,000 tax
payers of the necessity of com
puting t h e i r obligations and
simplifying returns for millions
more.
The measure was scheduled
to go back to the H o u s e on
Tuesday, May 23, for consider
ation of Senate changes which
Senator G e o r g e of Georgia,
Chairman of the Senate Fin
ance Committee, described as
“ purely technical.”
An executive session of the
Senate Finance Committee was
held on Tuesday, May 16, at
which time the Bill was form
ally reported to the Senate. To
expedite final passage, the Fin
ance Committee had voted not
to consider or a c c e p t any
amendments not germane to in
come tax simplification. This
excluded the possibility of a
rider reducing the cabaret tax.
On May 16, the Treasury
Department advised a g a i n s t
any reduction in the 30 per cent
wartime tax on cabaret and
night club checks, which be
came effective A p r i l 1. The
Treasury stated its position in a
letter to Representative Dough-
ton of North Carolina, Chair
man of the House W ays and
Means Committee. Honorable
Doughton had asked the De
partment’s opinion on a bill by
Representative Knutson of Min
nesota, proposing a cut to 10
per cent.
Back to the Senate: On May
20, Senator McCarran of Nev
ada w i t h d r e w a proposed
amendment to cut the cabaret
tax to 1 0 % a f t e r being as
sured by S e n a t o r George it
would be considered as part of
a p e n d i n g bill to raise the
national debt limit to $240,000,
0 0 0 , 0 0 0 .
The House passed the Bill as
reported by the Senate Finance
Committee, and the Individual
Income Tax A ct of 1944 was
sent to the President on May
23, 1944.
© International Arcade Museum
Now the purpose of this edi
torial is to remind the respon
sible leaders of the coin ma
chine industry that the present
tax structure is predicated on
global war. Another appropri
ate admonition, something to
remember when the time is ripe
for an attempt to ease the tax
load off our industry’s back,
is that the work c a n n o t be
placed in the hands of “ babes
in the woods.” It is not how
much you know, but W H O you
know. This saying can be para
phrased as fo llo w s : It is not
how much you want tax relief,
but to W H O M you present the
facts.
In the quest for more and
more federal income from tax
ation, to wage global war, there
has been not a little of inter
industry competition in t h e
writing of the Revenue Acts
for the years 1941, 1942, 1943,
and 1944.
There is a saying, “ It’s dark
est before the dawn.” To which
we a d d an appropriate and
pointed observation written to
Automatic Age by Roy Torr, of
Philadelphia. “ Can see a very
bright future for the coin ma
chine industry after the war is
over, if T A X E S don’t upset the
apple cart, and all work to
gether and organize.”
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