It has been figured out that a man and wife with three or
four children pays about 30 cents a week sales tax. This amounts to about $15
per year, more than a week’s pay for many men in this state. This amount would
doubtless pay for the greater part of the clothing that man or his wife
purchase in a year, and the same amount would almost feed the family for a
month. While it is true that the average government might desire a contribution
from each of its citizens, we cannot come to believe that it is quite fair to
take the bread of life out of the mounts of a family of four or five and still
allow other men and women with much larger incomes to “get by” with practically
the same amount of tax as the poor chap with a $12 per week income.
The point has been made that there are a large number of men
and women who are earning between $1,200 and $2,500 per year who are paying
nothing to the state government and for that reason the sales tax is necessary
in order to make then pay their just share, but it does seem as if there might
be a way to devise to collect from them without putting too heavy a burden on
the poor who are earning $400 to $700 a year.
We believe that this could be accomplished by the means of
the income tax. If the exemptions that are allowed under this tax were changed
and it was made to apply to all, no matter from what source they derived their
income, it would help a lot. Just because a man or woman derives their income
from working for the government is no reason why they should not pay an income
tax. We are willing to bet a cookie that the job they hold did not come seeking
them. We bet another cookie that most of them pulled every wire they knew to
land the job. Most of them have had a far more secure living than the man or
woman who works in a factory or who owns a small business. There is no reason
why they should not pay as do all others.
There should be no exempt bonds issued by any governmental
division. There is no reason for it. If the bonds are good they will sell as
well without the tax-exemption clause as they do with it and the government
would derive the dollars from a tax that should be collected.
There is no question but what the schools should furnish an
education to all who want it, and that it should be of the highest type
possible to give. Where a man has children in a school and is earning enough to
pay something toward their support eh would be required to do so, and an income
tax is the best means we know of to accomplish this object. This, we believe,
was one of the reasons given for the enactment of the sales tax that has done
so much to injure business in North Carolina.
A just income tax will not drive business to another state
as has the sales tax. It will not prove a burden to business in its collection
as has the sales tax. The amount collected will be the amount set by the
legislature and not many times that amount. The sales tax is supposed to be 3
percent ax, but if one makes several small purchases they find that they have
paid as high as 10 percent sales tax, instead of 3 percent. The sales tax
should be eliminated at the next session of the legislature.
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