172 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



of the tax, and up to date we have heard no word from the depart- 

 ment, nor have we been called upon for the tax. I think Mr. Stan- 

 bery and Mr. Bacon were both in Chicago last week and they heard 

 the discussion that went on there, and they know what the situation 

 is among the state fairs. We had some state fairs in the United 

 States this year that didn't even pay a tax on their midway shows. 

 The state fair this year paid a tax on the midway shows. That is, 

 they collected it, and also paid a tax on the ride, but that is the only 

 tax that we did pay. 



I don't know as there is any other information I can give you on 

 the subject. That is the way we handled it at the state fair. I 

 might say that all of the county and district fairs wrote in, after I 

 gave them this information, and just gave them the information I 

 had. I didn't feel like advising them not to pay the tax, because 

 we had been called upon to pay it, and I didn't want to advise them 

 in any respect whatever. 



Mr. Bacon : At a meeting of the district managers and officers of 

 this association held in this hotel in October a resolution was passed 

 objecting to this collection of this tax and with instructions to send 

 a copy of those resolutions to Louis Murphy at Dubuque. I fol- 

 lowed out these instructions and didn't receive any reply back in 

 the form of a letter, but did receive a big bound copy of the laws 

 underscored that we were bound to pay the tax on admissions after- 

 noon and evening. 



Mr. Corey: Pardon me for speaking again on this subject. I 

 think possibly you have all read a copy of that revenue law which 

 exempts all admissions to agricultural fairs. The way we read the 

 law there is no question — that is, the way the novice would read 

 the law, there is no question that the admission at your outside 

 gates and all customary features inside of the gates are exempt from 

 tax, but the local revenue officers are working on the interpretation 

 put on the law by the Revenue Department, and in that interpreta- 

 tion they hold that it makes no difiference whether it is a customary 

 feature of the fair, or not — that is like the show in front of the 

 grandstand at night.- They say that isn't a customary feature of an 

 agricultural fair because, they hold, that is not necessary to have 

 that show in order to promote a livestock and agricultural exposition 



