The Silver State

The blank forms for income tax returns have arrived and are being distributed by Frank L. Reber, deputy internal revenue collector for this district. These blanks may be obtained at the postoffice or at either of the banks. It is compulsory that each citizen secure a blank and fill it out in accordance with his or her gross income, less certain deductions which are specified. The tax is only 2 per cent on moderate incomes, hence it will not prove a hardship on anyone, while the general aggregate will amount to millions of dollars for the government.

There has been much published in newspapers from time to time regarding the income tax, and still there appears to be doubt in the minds of some as to the requirements of the law. The 1916 law required that every single person whose net income was $3,000 or more, every married person $4,000 or more, make a return, the excess to be taxed at 2 per cent. The 1917 law, known as the war income tax, reduced these amounts to $1,000 for a single person and $2,000 for a married person, plus $200 for each dependent child under 18.

The principal thing to bear in mind is that a married person who comes within the requirements of the law must file a return regardless of any exemption. Failure to make return is a misdemeanor and the penalty is heavy. A Washington dispatch says that an extension of time for filing income tax returns after March 1 will be granted in cases where it is demonstrated that accounting difficulties of a business prevent completion before that time. This rule is disclosed in regulations accompanying tax return forms for incomes of $3,000 or more.

In making inventories, the regulations provide that returns may be made either on the basis of cost or market value, whichever is lower, and an explanation is required of which basis is used. If real property or securities have been held since before March 1, 1913, the regulations require reporting of their estimated value on that date, instead of the original cost, together with an explanation of the estimate.