Editorial: Taxes for defense (4-19-41)

The Pittsburgh Press (April 19, 1941)

TAXES FOR DEFENSE

We are printing below two tax tables.

Table No. 1, compiled from figures furnished Senator Vandenberg by John L. Sullivan, the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, compares the individual income taxes paid by single persons in the United States with similar taxes paid by single persons in Great Britain.

Here is Table No. 1:

Net income before exemptions Taxes in the U.S.A. Taxes in Great Britain
$1,500 $24 $246
$3,000 $84 $777
$8,000 $449 $2,690
$20,000 $2,666 $9,715
$50,000 $14,709 $32,690
$100,000 $44,268 $76,565

Table No. 2, compiled from the same sources, compares individual income taxes paid by married couples with two children in the U.S. with similar taxes paid by married couples with two children in Canada.

Here is Table No. 2:

Net income before exemptions Taxes in the U.S.A. Taxes in Canada
$1,500 $0 $14
$3,000 $0 $95
$8,000 $246 $1,128
$20,000 $2,143 $5,982
$50,000 $13,741 $20,998
$100,000 $42,948 $50,860

It just takes a glance to understand how much greater is the individual income tax burden in Canada and Great Britain. And it is a good thing to remember that taxpayers in those countries also bear heavy burdens in the sales taxes their governments have levied upon them.

This nation is spending billions for national defense, and these are expenditures everyone is anxious and willing to have made.

But this nation is not yet collecting enough in taxes to pay the preparedness bill.

We believe that the country is months ahead of Congress on taxes, just as it was on national defense.

And so we hope that among those who read and ponder these tables are our representatives in the House and Senate.

And we hope that when, within a short time, those representatives of ours in Congress get around to writing the new tax bill, they will not hesitate to levy upon us taxes more closely in line with those borne by our friends in Great Britain and Canada. Because an adequate revenue to pay the defense bills is, in our opinion, as important a part of our defense as the guns and tanks and planes, we are now buying on credit.

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