Tax Exempt Securities

Archive Report

Economists at the Treasury Department and elsewhere in Washington are endeavoring to determine the highest point at which income taxes and surtaxes can be maintained without driving capital out of industry into tax exempt securities.

Statistics published by the Bureau of Internal Revenue indicate that the higher surtaxes are rapidly ceasing to be productive of revenue.

YearNumber of returnsNet Income
All classesIncomes over $300,000All classesIncomes over $300,000
1916$437,063$1,296$6,298,577,620$992,972,986
19173,472,8901,01513,652,383,207731,372,153
19184,425,11462715,924,639,355401,107,868
19195,332,76067919,859,491,448440,011,589
19207,259,94439523,735,629,183246,354,585
19216,662,17624619,577,212,528153,534,305

The above figures are looked upon as significant in that from 1916 to 1919 they cover a period of great and increasing prosperity and indicate a tremendous flow of wealth into tax exempt securities, According to the Government Actuary, there are now approximately $10,660,000,000 worth of these securities outstanding, of which about $3,000,000,000 are direct or indirect obligations of the Federal ...

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