•ir;^<p^jfpiJi,'ij"..MiLP«' I iM T-s- 



C^ 



mm. 



HERE'S HELP ON .^ 



i^ TAX RETURNS 



A puzzling subject to almost everybody, the federal income tax return 

 contains some particidarly perplexing problems for florists. With informa- 

 tion first hand from officials of the income tax bureau at Washington, The 

 Review is able to help its readers fdl out their returns more intelligently. 



wm^: 



OWN at Washington is a 

 big building, erected dur- 

 ing the war to house the 

 activities of the govern- 

 ment incident to carrying 

 on the struggle in Europe. 

 It used to be called the 

 War Industries building. 

 Now that the war is over 

 in point of activity if not 



technically, the building is devoted to 



what, after the war is past, seems next 



in importance in the minds of citizens, 



and particularly business men, of this 



country; namely, paying for the war, 



or in other words, the federal income 



tax. So vast a matter has this become 



that even this big structure is not able 



to house all concerned with 



it. Indeed, these quarters 



are merely an offshoot. The 



headquarters of the income 



tax bureau were first in the 



1 d Treasury building, 



where there are still some 



of its offices. Behind that 



edifice stands what looks 



like a modern metropolitan 



office building. This housed 



the main staff of the bureau 



originally, but now, though 



it is filled, it contains not 



so large nor so busy a force 



as does the one-time War 



Industries building. 



Conferences. 



In one part of this in- 

 heritance of the tax bu- 

 reau from the war indus- 

 tries are six large rooms, 

 called conference rooms. 

 Small tables, surrounded by 

 chairs, fill each one. At 

 these tables sit groups, one 

 succeeded by another every 

 little while, which fill the 

 \y room with the buzz of con- 

 versation all day long. The 

 groups are composed of (1) 



income tax payers, (2) their 



lawyers and (3) experts of 

 the bureau. The first comes, 

 sometimes with or without the second, 

 for conference with the third. If a 

 large manufacturer or the head of a big 

 mercantile corporation finds knotty 

 problems in making out his concern's 

 income tax return and sees that the 

 difference between making the report 

 in one way and making it in another 

 . means hundreds, if not thousands of 

 dollars' difference in the taxes to be 

 paid, he will deem it quite worth while 

 to spend railroad fare for the com- 

 pany's treasurer and perhaps the com- 



pany's lawyer to confer with actual ex- 

 I)erts of the income tax bureau at Wash- 

 ington. Hundreds upon hundreds do; 

 hence the busy rooms in the former 

 War Industries building at the capital. 



Vicarious Visit, 



Few florists, however, can afford the 

 time at this season, to say nothing of 

 the money — their taxes are not that 

 large yet — to visit Washington to clear 

 up the perplexing points in their income 

 tax returns, though some are trouble- 

 some indeed. So a representative of 

 The Eeview made the visit for them 

 and obtained definite advice from the 

 experts of the income tax bureau on the 

 problems that harass florists most. The 



ASK THE REVIEW. 



Readers of The Review, accus- 

 tomed to obtain from it information 

 regarding their problems, both cul- 

 tural and business, have sought 

 advice on puzzling points in their 

 income tax returns. Those not al- 

 ready answered by letter will find 

 replies to their queries in this ar- 

 ticle. Any reader who has further 

 problems he cannot solve is invited 

 to write The Review, which will 

 be glad to supply the information 

 obtainable concerning them. 



itself, "a reasonable allowance for the 

 exhaustion, wear and tear of ijropcrty 

 used in the trade or business, including 

 a reasonable allowance for obsoles- 

 cence." 



The words, "reasonable allowance," 

 are explained in the tax regulations in 

 this way: "The proper allowance for 

 such depreciation of any property used 

 in the trade or business is that amount 

 which should be set aside for the tax- 

 able year in accordance with a consist- 

 ent plan by which the aggregate of 

 such amounts for the useful life of the 

 property in the business will suffice, 

 with the salvage value at the end of 

 such useful life, to provide in place of 

 the property its cost, or its value as of 

 March 1, 1913, if acquired 

 by the taxpayer before 

 that date." In other 

 words, if the florist will di- 

 vide 100 per cent by the 

 number of years he can 

 reasonably expect his 

 houses to last, he will ar- 

 rive at the proper percent- 

 age to deduct each year. 

 Suppose a florist added two 

 greenhouses last year at a 

 cost of $20,000 and he esti- 

 mates that they will last 

 twenty years; then he will 

 charge off $1,000 as depre- 

 ciation this year, or five per 

 cent. If he estimates that 

 they will last only sixteen 

 years, he charges off $1,250, 

 or six and one-quarter per 

 cent. 



Eeview has already answered by letter 

 a number of inquiries from its readers; 

 many others will find their questions 

 covered in this article. If any desire 

 further help in filling out their return, 

 The Eeview is ready to give its assist- 

 ance. 



Depreciation. 



Let us take up first that question 

 which is on so many florists' minds, de- 

 preciation. One of the deductions al- 

 lowable is, in the words of the law 



Fair Estimate. 

 The probable length of 

 life of a greenhouse de- 

 pends so largely on the na- 

 ture of the structure and 

 the care with which it is 

 kept up that no definite 

 percentage can be deter- 

 mined upon as the rule. 

 The income tax bureau has 

 fixed certain percentages 

 as geneially accurate for 

 other sorts of structures: Depreciation 

 on a concrete building, for instance, is 

 estimated at one and one-half per cent; 

 on a brick building, at two and one-half 

 per cent, and on a frame building, at 

 four per cent. The figures are only ap- 

 proximate, it should be added, for a 

 concrete building that is shaken by 

 heavy machinery running constantly 

 will not last as long as one that serves 

 only as an office building. So, a green- 

 house in a damp climate that is not 

 given much attention with the paint 



