Tax amnesty worth considering
By Richard A. Viguerie
In Arizona, an FBI agent said he
was sorry and wouldn't do it
again. And in Massachusetts, it
was an 80-year-old electrician who
hadn't Hied a state income tax
return since 1941.
They were responding to an of
? fer of amnesty for people who owe
back taxes. At least two dozen
states have granted amnesty or are
considering such an offer, and
federal officials have begun to in
vestigate the possibility of an
amnesty for federal taxes as well.
Here's how the proposal might
work: During a short period, any
person who owed back taxes and
had not been notified by the IRS
a that he was being investigated
^ could write "AMNESTY" on his
return and be exempt from
criminal penalties and from civil
penalties other than interest.
The IRS would be prohibited
from sharing information on
"AMNESTY" returns with other
law enforcement agencies. And
there would be a generous install
ment plan for payment of back
. taxes.
The one-time amnesty idea ap
parently originated in Arizona and
spread across the country. In
North Dakota, one of the persons
taking advantage of the plan was a
Korean War veteran who had not
paid taxes in 30 years. In Missouri,
an insurance company told state
officials that it owed $750,000.
Different types of amnesty pro
grams were also put into effect in
Alabama, Arkansas, and Port
smouth, Ohio.
The most spectacular result was
in Massachusetts, which is
sometimes called "Taxachusetts."
State officials expected to net $3 to
$5 million! Payments ranged from
eight cents to more than $1 million
owed by a Fortune 500 company.
Tax amnesty program have been
proposed by slate legislators in
Connecticut, Virginia, and New
Jersey. The governor of Minnesota
has endorsed it and the governor
of Iowa is considering it. Illinois
State Senate President Philip Rock
(a liberal Democrat running for the
U.S. Senate) and New York Mayor
Ed Koch support the idea.
At the federal level, a national
tax amnesty has been endorsed by
conservative Congressman Phil
Crane (R-lllinois), House Speaker
'Tip' O'Neill (D-Massachusetts),
and the National Taxpayers'
Union.
Some officials, including
Treasury Secretary Donald
Reagan, object to the idea of a tax
amnesty because it might appear to
reward tax evaders. But so far,
other than the corporations
already mentioned, few big-time
tax evaders have sought amnesty.
The average payment in North
Dakota was only $100 -- which in
dicates that most of the par
ticipants were average people, not
master criminals.
Many of those who take advan
tage of the program are people
who simply put off paying their
taxes until it was too late and they
were afraid to come forward. Most
of them would never have been
caught; in many cases, the statute
of limitations had expired. And
some were surprised to discover
that the government owed them
money.
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Opinions
Scott likes college position
By Cliff Blue
Former Governor Bob Scott and
now President of the Community
College system in North Carolina,
appears to have found the position
even more appealing and satisfac
tory than serving as governor!
The week of March 6 he had
served as President of the 58 in
stitutions for a full year in North
Carolina. Reporting at the month
ly Community College board
recently, he expressed his great
satisfaction in his college work.
WALL STREET. . . We read
that the game on Wall Street con
tinues to center around interest
rates and what they'll do in the
future. Henry Kaufman, widely
quoted, continues (as he has done
for over a year) to predict higher
rates. He has been a factor in in
fluencing the stock market
negatively in the view of many.
However, Treasury Secretary
Donald Reagan strongly disagrees
with him.
DEFICIT SPENDING. . . From
what we read in the daily
newspapers the people in
Washington are beginning to
realize the folks back home in the
hindermost areas are tired and sick
of the manner in which taxes are
being spent and the great debt that
is steadily climbing upward.
President Reagan has been a
popular President, but things have
People & Issues
gone too far, chiefly irresponsible
spending of the tax payers money!
Talk with the plain people to
day, and they are fed up with the
way the government is running
things in Washington.
Tax-payers back home are hav
ing to pay big taxes for military in
foreign lands. People feel that
U.S. government spending has got
ten out of hand.
They had thought Ronald
Reagan would do what he promis
ed when running for president four
years ago.
He criticized President Carter
for running up the Federal Debt,
and said he would get spending on
a balanced budget, not later than
his third year as president, if
elected.
He has been meddling in too
many foreign countries, giving
them money like it was going out
of style in the United States, or
that we had uncovered Con
federate money that is still good to
spend!
Somebody should convince
President Reagan, an amicable
man, that he is on the wrong track.
He should keep our soldiers at
home. Foreign nations would pro
bably get along better having to
hoe their own garden, and we
would all get along better in the
long run.
KIDS KILLED. . . Motor vehi
cle crashes and other accidents ac
count for an increasing proportion
of the deaths of children aged 1
through 4, reports the Health In
surance Association of America.
DEMOCRATS. . . The outlook
doesn't look good for the
Democrats nationally, with
Senators Glenn and Hollings hav
ing dropped out of the running,
even before the South had their
say-so in the primaries.
CONSTITUTIONAL AMEND
MENT. . . The House of
Representatives has proposed a
constitutional amendment to
restore prayer to public schools
which is being debated around the
clock. Senate sponsors braced for
a long, drawn out battle that could
ultimately be decided by the nar
rowest margin. House sym
pathizers appeared to support the
bill.
HEALTH COSTS. . . Health
care costs in the U.S. have been in
creasing at double the rate of infla
tion, reports the Health Insurance
Association of America. The
health care bill in 1982 came to
$322 billion, according to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's
for every man, woman, child in the
country.
Raising drinking age could lower carnage
By Lucien Coleman
Toward the end of February, a
letter-to-the-editor of a local
newspaper caught my eye.
The writer said. "I am writing
concerning the legal drinking age.
If it were raised, it would cause a
great deal of disruption among
teenagers in our own time."
He went on to use the old argu
ment, "if the government thinks
an 18-year-old is old enough to
vote, he should be old enough and
responsible enough to drink."
Well, you can argue the issue
both ways. But. one ar$uement
stands out above all the rest. The
truth is, in every state where the
drinking age was lowered to 18 in
Things That Matter
the early 1970's, the number of
nightime taffic deaths among
teenagers soared dramatically.
And when a number of states later
raised the legal drinking age to 20
to 21, the traffic fatalities among
teenagers plunged to lower levels.
In a research paper published in
the Journal of Legal Studies late in
1982, the writers reported:
"When states lowered their legal
minimum drinking ages in the ear
ly 1970s, the result was an increase,
amort? both law-affected and
younger drivers, in involvement in
fatal crashes, especially those
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often involved.
"The results of the present study
indicate that when states raise their
drinking age, there is a correspon
ding decrease in fatal crash in
volvement among law-affected
drivers."
One typical example was the
state of Michigan, where the legal
drinking age was raised from 18 to
21 in December, 1978. The next
year, nightime traffic deaths
among older teenagers dropped 41
percent.
-Seven-other states experienced
similar results when the drinking
age was raised above 18.
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NOTICE
Meeting of the Board of Equalization and Review
Motice is hereby given that pursuant to Article 21,
GS 105-322 of the Machinery Act. a meeting of the
Board of Equalization and Review will be held:
MONDAY, APRIL 2, 1984
beginning at 1:30 p.m.
by appointment only
After notices of new property values have been
received, these values can be reviewed at the Tax
Supervisor's Office.
You are urged to check your property values and in
the event you are dissatisfied, complaint procedures
will be furnished at the Tax Supervisor's Office and
if requested, an appointment will be made to appear
before the Equalization and Review Board.
MO COMPLAINTS WILL BE HEARD BY THE
BOARD EXCEPT BY APPOINTMENT.
All meetings will be held at the Hoke County office
building at 227 N. Main St. in the Commissioners
conference room.
The Board expects to adjourn April 2, 1984. In the
event of later adjournment, notice to that effect will
be published in this newspaper.
HOKE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS