COIN
MACHINE
lEVIN
10
FOR
and Means Committee, in a report on the
House bill that cut excise taxes on four
consumer items including jewelry, said the
new proposal would not apply to coin-
operated phonographs.
During a long period of hearings before
the Ways and Means committee, and va-
rious subcommittees, there were many pleas
for lowerin g, and in most cases removing
the present excises. They are generally re-
garded as war taxes and the plea is made
that they should no longer be collected.
The radio industry made its plea for
removing the fees on radios and phono-
graphs. Every industry that pays an excise
made pleas during the first half of this
year that such taxes be reduced or removed.
In these hearings, it may be taken for
granted that a lot of data was filed with
Congressional committees on why the ex-
cises should be removed.
Now that Congress has adjourned, hear-
ings and investigations will go right ahead,
for Congressional leaders are planning on
a new omnibus tax bill to be introduced
next January. The Ways and Mellns com-
mittee plans to begin meetings in No-
vember. The chairman of the committee
also appointed a special committee of
Imsiness men that will study taxes during
th e months ahead. Members of the special
com mittee are said to favor excise taxes
as against income taxes.
A Senate committee also approved $30,-
000 for a special committee to study taxes,
especially the .overlapping of fed eral and
local taxes. The Treasury Department has
been making reports for months on tax
questions and will continue to make reports
on special qu estions. A Treasury report on
excise fees collected on telegrams suggested
relief should be extended to the communi·
cations firms.
Thus, it will be seen that ample com-
SEPTEMBER
1947
mittees and special committees, and also the
Treasury Department are at work on various
tax questions, and a lot of reports and
recommendations will be made to Congress
by next January. Industries that have ex-
cise tax problems will need to get in their
pleas before one or all of these committees.
Some reports said the pleas for removal
of excise taxes increased when Congress
adjourned.
The Gearhart bill, introduced in the
last session of Congress, may give some
hint as to the direction new excise pro·
posals will take. This bill proposed to
remove all the present retail excise and
also manufacturers' excises, and substitute
a new general manufacturer's excise of
10 per cent on all manufactured goods
except food, tobacco, liquor and electrical
energy. Th e present excises on liquor, beer
and tobacco would remain.
Such a law would probably repeal the
presen t federal tax on coin machines since
it is paid by retail locations. The manu-
fa cturers' excise on phonographs would fall
and th en be re-applied in the new general
tax. In fact, such a proposal would place
the general excise on all machines at the
fa ctory.
But there has always been some question
about the exact status of the fed eral tax
on coin machines. The original law was
rassed in 1941 and hence is not a war
tax; phonographs were added by amend-
ment in 1943 and that part of it may be
(' oll:-;inered a war tax.
Un less the industry makes strong pleas
for dropping the tax, there is danger that
it may be let stand just as the Gearhart
proposal would let liquor, beer and ciga-
rettes stand.
The coin machine industry has a
sound plea for dropping the federal
t.ax because so many states and cities
TIME MEANS MONEY!
SAVE -BOTI-I ~
COIN
CBANGER
Choice of 25c, I Dc, 5c and 1 c
units. Each- unit can be ar-
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base . Bases are available for
2, 3 , 4 or 5 units and can be
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of units.
method
of removing
unit for empty-
ing
or
re-ar -
ranging.
McP~ERSON
1641 Y.z E. 28th
A light touch of lever delivers
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write
for prices of various combina-
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MFG. CO.
Tacoma 4, Wash.
Distributors wanted.
collect taxes on the machines. Coin ma-
chines should be left as a source of
revenue to the state and cities, because
collection of the federal tax is ex-
pensive and troublesome.
While pleas are being made by various
industries for repeal of excises, strong pleas
are also being made that Congress set up
definite standards to guide Treasury officials
in making rules and r egulations about
collecting excises. It was the regulations
issued by the Internal Revenue Bureau that
gave the amusement games trade the most
trouble, after the federal tax went into
effect.
At the presen t time, there seems to be
disagreement among the leaders of the
majority party on the excise tax question . .
Chairman Knutson, of the Ways and Means
committee, is on record as favoring lower
income taxes and a more general spread of
excises. The special .committee which he
appointed is definitely stacked in that
direction. But Senator Taft has proposed
that federal excise taxes be cut two or
three billion dollars. 'l:aft also suggests
that excises come up next year, just as
soon as Congress has reduced income taxes.
Federal taxes collected for the fiscal
year just ended, June 30, will be quoted
pro and con during the coming battles_
Income taxes reached new highs durin g
the last fiscal year and there is certain
to be big reductions in the income tax fi eld.
Practically all the excise taxes showed good
increases over th e previous fiscal year, ex-
cep t liquor.
Coin machine revenue for the fiscal year
endi ng June 30 amounted to $20,432,233.
"Eureka" Revived by Bally
CHICAGO - Originally introduced in
1938, Eureka, the free-play pin table, has
been revj ved by popular demand. Volume
production is now under way.
"Eureka operators not only requested
that the new game retain the profit-proved
features of th e original," says George J en-
kins, Bally vice-president and general sales
manager, "but also insisted on the use of
the original name. We have added the ever-
popular A-B·C-D feature in the 1947 Eureka
as well as the old favorite spell-name
feature."
Eureka ca n be converted from multiple- .
coin to single·coin operation, and one, two
or five ball play.
KWIK·NICKELS
Streamlined
Coin Changer
Solid Aluminum
Casting
Polished
Chrome
Holds $10
In Nickels
Guaranteed Accurate
$9.85
Each
Also Available
With S-Unit Base