SCIENCE.-SUPPLEMENT. 



FRIDAY, JANUARY 7, 1887. 



TAXATION OF PERSONAL PROPERTY IN 

 FRANCE, GERMANY, AND THE UNITED 

 STATES. 



When Lord Rosebeiy was in Mr. Gladstone's 

 cabinet as secretary for foreign affairs, he insti- 

 tuted some investigations through his diplomatic 

 and consular officers that resemble closely those 

 carried on by our consuls during the past decade 

 in accordance with the system inaugurated by 

 Secretary Evarts, One of Lord Rosebery's in- 

 vestigations had reference to the system under 

 which personal property is brought into contribu- 

 tion for local or national purposes, and was undei'- 

 taken by the British ministers at Paris, Berhn, 

 and Washington. The returns have recently been 

 embodied in a parliamentary paper, and present 

 many points of interest. In France there are 

 four heads of direct taxes, — the real-property 

 tax {contribution fonciere), the door-and-window 

 tax, the personal-property tax {contribution per- 

 sonnelle et mobiliere), and the tax on professions. 

 The total amounts to be obtained from the first 

 three taxes are first fixed by the budget, and are 

 then divided and subdivided between the depart- 

 ments, arrondissements, and communes, until 

 finally the share of each tax-payer is decided on. 

 The contribution personnelle et raobiliere is of two 

 kinds. The first is a poll-tax of what is considered 

 equivalent to three days of labor, and is payable 

 by every Frenchman in France, and every 

 foreigner of either sex who is not reputed in- 

 digent, and who is in possession of his or her 

 'rights.' The minimum of this tax is 1 franc 50 

 centimes, and the maximum 4 francs 50 centimes. 

 The second form of personal tax is laid on all 

 those liable to the poll-tax, and is proportioned to 

 the letting price of the house or apartment each 

 may inhabit. The assessors are the mayor of the 

 commune and his adjomt or adjoints, and five 

 citizens, termed repartiteurs, named by the head 

 of the arrondissement, and changed annually. An 

 elaborate system of councils provides for the 

 assessment, collection, and payment of these 

 taxes. Besides these main state taxes, there are 

 so many centimes additionnels. These are of three 

 kinds, — generaux, when for the exigencies of the 

 state ; departementaux, when for the departmental 

 administration ; communaux, when for the com- 

 munal administration. A special category of cen- 



times additionnels is also provided, the returns from 

 which are granted to the ministry of agriculture 

 or finance for special emergencies, such as the 

 abatement or return of taxation to persons or dis- 

 tricts which have suffered from floods, fire, hail, 

 etc. 



The tax on professions or trades {patentes) is 

 also a personal tax, but its amount cannot, like 

 the other three, be fixed beforehand. There is an 

 official scale according to which each industry or 

 profession is taxed ; and the administrator of 

 direct taxes determines the schedule into which 

 each tax-payer shall bo placed, and settles the 

 droit fixe and the droit proportionnel. The droit 

 fixe is based on the population and the nature of 

 the trade or profession. The droit proportionnel 

 is fixed according to the annual rental of the 

 buildings or premises used for the exercise of the 

 trade, industry, or profession. This contribution 

 des patentes is due by every Frenchman or 

 foreigner who exercises a trade, industry, or pro- 

 fession not included in the exceptions made by 

 law. Mr. Edgerton, who has prepared the paper 

 on personal taxation in France, remarks that the 

 general tendency of late changes in the scale of 

 this tax has been to abate the amounts paid by 

 the smaller industries, and to increase those paid 

 by the larger ones. For example : in 1880 the 

 fixed patentes on bankers was increased from 

 1,000 to 2,000 francs. 



The return for Germany in answer to Lord 

 Rosebery's circular applies to Prussia only, as no 

 direct taxes are levied for the account of the im- 

 perial government. But Prussia serves as a type 

 of all the other German states, since their system 

 and method of assessment are modelled on hers. 



In Prussia all communes not having sufficient 

 independent revenue to cover their local require- 

 ments may raise such necessary revenues, either 

 by surtaxes {zusclilclge) based on the rates of cer- 

 tain specified state direct taxes, or by special sanc- 

 tion from the state to impose special taxes, direct 

 or indirect. The former alternative is the one 

 usually chosen by such communes as have not an 

 independent revenue from real property. The 

 wealthiest communes dispense with these sur- 

 taxes altogether, while in the poorer communes 

 the surtax is as high as 300 or 400 per cent of the 

 state tax. The state taxes, which serve as the 

 basis of computation for these surtaxes, are : — 

 (a) Personal : I. Class tax on personal net annual 

 incomes under 3,000 marks ; II. Classified income 



