Taxes Hit 100 Billion Ogden Standard Oct 22 - ‘56 First Time in History NEW YORK (AP) - The total tax take in the United States for one year is at the 100 billion dollar level for the first time in history. That will be $608 for every man, woman and child in the nation. Twenty years ago the take averaged $83 per person. Total collections have risen more than 11 billion dollars in the past year. Some congressional inquiries are getting under way for a revision of the tax laws. But almost no one expects tax cuts at the federal level - no matter which party wins the election next month. And with the demands on state and local governments for more funds to meet increased needs, the outlook is all for still higher taxes there. HEAD FOR STRATOSPHERE A lot of other things are headed for the stratosphere, too. The total of public and private debts is expected to reach 700 billion dollars by the end of the year, a new high. National income this year is expected to be a record 340 billion dollars. And tangible wealth, public and private, is set at a staggering 1 ½ trillion dollars. The reason the chance of a federal tax cut is slim, is this: The Democratic congressional leaders who control tax legislation are on record as against tax cuts until a treasury surplus of respectable size is sighted. So are the Republican administration leaders. While federal tax receipts are swelling, federal expenditures are too, few to predict more than a very slim treasury surplus in the coming year. HEARINGS ON CHANGES Congressional committees about to hold hearing on changes in the tax laws are concerned with revising the 1954 tax code to correct some errors and oversights, to ditch some unintended benefits and to plug a few loopholes. They will still study proposed changes in excise taxes, suggestions for accelerated depreciation to help business expansion, and perhaps some tax relief for small business. Personal income tax rates, and over-all corporate taxes, aren’t up for a change, as of now. Some advocates of cutting taxes righ away without waiting for a Treasury surplus argue that lower rates would stimulate business activity enough to let the government take in a greater total in its levy on incomes. But the tax foundation, a non-profit organization which every now and then shakes its head sadly over the steady climb of taxes, observes today: “The only real hope for substantial tax reduction lies in insisting that government spend less.” LATEST TAX BITE The foundation puts the latest annual tax bite thus: Uncle Sam takes 72 billion dollars, the states 15 billion, and the local governments 13 billion. This is double the total of 10 years ago and nearly 10 times the take of 20 years ago. While the population has been growing strikingly over the 20 years, tax rates have gone up even faster. In 1936 Uncle Sam took $30 per capita, the state tax collector $21 and the local revenue man $32. In 1946 the federal collector took $286 per capita, the state $45 and the local government $39. In 1956 Washington gets $439 per person, the state $90 and the local collector $79. Just in the last year the total per capita figure jumped $61. Even making allowance for the drop in the purchasing power of the dollar in the last 20 years, the rise from $83 per head in 1936 to $608 today may be as “breath taking” as the foundation contends.