PRINCIPLES OF TAXATION. 71 



first class, the tax in force in 1887 was from eiglit and a lialf per 

 cent to ten per cent of net income." Under this class the following 

 income was taxed: income derived from all those trades and occu- 

 pations which are subject to a license tax; the income of mining 

 and smelting establishments, and the profit made by the tenants of 

 agricultural lands. In the second class, which includes income from 

 services rendered or labor performed in occupations not subject to 

 a license tax, the rate reported is exceptionally high. Under the 

 third class, which embraces interests from loans, from invested 

 capital, savings banks, and life-insurance companies, the rate is re- 

 ported to be ten per cent. The exemptions under this latter head 

 are very extensive, and include the pay of officers and soldiers in 

 active service, interest on dej)osits in savings banks, and a great 

 number of public securities — as five per cent Austrian stocks and 

 bonds, certain bonds of the TjtoI, bonds of all railroads subject to 

 taxation, lottery loans of 1859 and 1860, and a large number of other 

 corporation securities. 



Servants are only taxed under the second class and in case their 

 total income exceeds six hundred and thirty florins ($226.16). 



In case a party subjected to an income tax makes either a false 

 return or neglects to make any, thrice the amount of the tax is 

 imposed, the payment of which, however, includes the tax itself, so 

 that the fine proper is double the amount of the tax. 



Denjiark. — The income tax of Denmark was recently fixed at 

 two per cent of the taxpayer's income. The tax is collected by 

 authorized agents, who are obliged to give ample security for the 

 faithful performance of their duties, for which they receive a re- 

 muneration of two per cent on the amount collected, together with 

 an allowance for house rent in return for the obligations imposed 

 upon them of having residences and offices in the taxing districts. 

 This income tax does not seem to be objectionable in the sense of 

 undue burdensomeness, the only complaints made being in regard to 

 the publicity of the pecuniary conditions of the individuals taxed. 



Switzerland. — A resort to an income tax for the purpose of 

 defraying state expenditures seems to find especial favor in Switzer- 



in the interest of free-trade principles from the vexatious and heavy duties on transfers, 

 which, with legal expenses, make the cost of sales amount to ten per cent of the price paid. 

 This heavy impost prevents sales, and its removal should be supplemented by establishing a 

 simple system of transfer on the record-of-title principle. These reforms, which involve 

 equality of taxation and free trade in land, are, in M. Guyot's opinion, essential to the well- 

 being of France, whose greatest wealth consists in her land. Fifty per cent of the popula- 

 tion are engaged in agriculture, and, without releasing them from their fair share of the 

 public burdens, they should be placed in such circumstances as will permit land to pass 

 into the possession of those who are most capable of working it to advantage. {Rapport 

 sur les questions relatives d Vimpot sur le revenu. Par Yves Guyot. Paris : Guillaumin & 

 Cie. ISST.) 



