The War Tax Act of 1917

Abstract

I. History of the act in Congress, 1. — II. Taxes proposed but discarded: supplement to income tax of 1916, 5; customs duties and consumption taxes, 6. — III. New Taxes: on transportation and communication, 6; new excises, 7. — Probable incidence of these excises, 9. — IV. Increased rates on liquors and tobacco, 10. — V. Increase of postal rates, 14; of inheritance tax rates, 15. — VI. Income tax rates, 16. — Exemption limit lowered, 19. — Special tax on corporations, 19. — Corporate surpluses, 23. — Stoppage at the source and information at the source, 25. — VII. Excess Profits Tax, 27. — House bill followed previous legislation, of March, 1917, 27. — Plan based on pre-war profits in the Senate, 29. — Compromise emerges from Conference Committee, 32. — Definition of “Capital,” 33. — Application to “excess” incomes of individuals, 34.