Up & Up

How high can the federal tax bill be jacked before it topples on the economy, impairing earning power and crushing incentive?

Many economists thought the limit had been reached in wartime 1945, when the U.S. Treasury collected a record total of $43,353,000,000--29.5% of the national income. Last week the Bureau of Internal Revenue published a report which showed that the end is still nowhere in sight. Last year Washington collected a total of $56,093,339,429--20.7% of the national income--and moved on with still higher rates, e.g., an increase of 11% in income taxes, to collect still more this year. Of 1951'S take, $30,046,211,980 was collected from personal-income, retirement, old-age and unemployment taxes. The rest came out of corporation profits and miscellaneous excise taxes, which will also be higher for 1952.

While the federal collector was busy, state and local taxes were also pouring in. The nation's total estimated 1951 tax bill: $73,593,339,429, an average of $468 for every man, woman & child in the U.S.

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