.8222.2 RETURNS MUST BE MADE On or before FIRST MONDAY IN MARCH. TAX MUST BE PAID On or before FIRST DAY OF JULY. RETURNS MAY BE SWORN TO Before a NOTARY PUBLIC. PART I. CHAPTER I. HISTORY OF INCOME-TAX LAWS. EUROPE. An income tax is no novelty in finance either in this country or in Europe. For many years it has been one of the chief sources of revenue in Germany, Austria, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, and Great Britain. German Empire. - The major part imposes a progressive tax on incomes. The Prussian act dates from 1851, and almost all of the other German states have since adopted similar systems. All persons having incomes in excess of $105 are divided into classes, and an annual tax is assessed upon each. The rate is graded from less than one per cent to four per cent and the style of living may be taken as a basis on which to calculate income. The Bohemian rate of income taxation is graded to ten per cent; Bremen's tax varies annually, is usually four per cent; Hamburg requires a written declaration and the assessorship is held in high honor. The system of Saxony is the most complete and peculiar of the empire. Every species of gain is considered income and the tax is three per cent on the larger incomes. The profits of a partnership business are divided into as many shares as partners and each partner is taxed his share. If the partnership is not one of equal shares, the matter is left to the partners themselves for settlement. Principals are required to inform the taxation committee what salaries their clerks receive. Income taxation is one of the cardinal features of German finance. Austria. The part that income taxation plays in the other continental nations is characteristic of their financial condition. The income tax was re-enacted in 1849. For the purposes of taxation, incomes are divided into three classes. Those from trades subject to license tax and agriculture are taxed at near ten per cent; those from other professions and insurance dividends pay twenty per cent, and those from interest and invested capital surrender ten per cent. Although the exceptions to these provisions are unusually lenient, omission or falsification of returns subjects the offender to a triple tax. Italy. Twelve per cent, roughly modified in manner of assessment by gradation and |