SUBJECT: SPORTING GOODS-FEDERAL AID TO WITNESS: WILLIAM E. TOWELL, VICE PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GAME, FISH & CONSERVATION COMMISSIONERS. SUMMARY OF STATEMENT Our association is composed of administrative personnel and departmental memberships from all 50 of the State game and fish departments. 1. The purpose of this statement is to recommend the continuation of excise taxes on sporting arms and ammunition as provided in the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act, September 2, 1937 (50 Stat. 917, as amended), known as the Pittman-Robertson Act; and the excise tax on certain sports fishing equipment as provided in the Federal Aid in Fish Restoration Act, August 9, 1950 (64 Stat. 430, as amended), known as the Dingell-Johnson Act. 2. Origin and purpose of the two programs. 3. Support of the two programs by hunters, fishermen, and the majority of manufacturers. 4. Brief summary of accomplishments of the two programs in Missouri and in all States. 5. Recommendation: Continuation of these excise taxes. SUBJECT: MANUFACTURERS SPORTING GOODS-FEDERAL WITNESS: RALPH A. MacMULLAN, DIRECTOR, MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION. SUMMARY OF STATEMENT SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD (Prepared by staff of Committee on Ways and Means) The present Federal excise tax on sport fishing equipment and on sporting arms and ammunition should be retained. SUBJECT: MANUFACTURERS SPORTING GOODS-FEDERAL WITNESS: HARRY L. HAMPTON, JR., SECRETARY, SPORTING ARMS & AMMUNITION MANUFACTURERS' INSTITUTE. SUMMARY OF STATEMENT SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD The members of this industry unanimously support the continuation of the excise tax collected under section 4181, part 3-Firearms, title 26, Internal Revenue Code. Our reasons have been clearly stated; they are the same as those that prompted the members of SAAMI vigorously to support passage of the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act of 1937. The act was necessary then; continuation of its provisions is essential now to assure the continuation of vitally important cooperative programs in wildlife management, habitat restoration, and related natural resource conservation activities. SUBJECT: MANUFACTURERS SPORTING GOODS— FEDERAL AID TO WILDLIFE AND FISH RESTORATION WITNESS: DR. SPENCER M. SMITH, JR., ECONOMIST AND SECRETARY, CITIZENS COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES SUMMARY OF STATEMENT SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD The excise taxes levied as a result of the Federal Aid and Wildlife Restoration Act of 1937 and the Federal Aid and Fish Restoration Act of 1950 should be continued. 1. The tax as imposed has no significant impact upon levels of employment or upon the national income. This is due to the high selectivity of the tax which reduces its quantitative effect. 2. There does not appear to be any significant impact upon the allocation of resources. Demand elasticity for the products involved indicates that the amount of sales do not appear to be a function of the prices charged within the ranges observed-thus the demand is highly elastic. 3. The uniqueness of these particular excise taxes is important inasmuch as the manufacturer and the public both have an interest in the revenue therefrom. Since the tax funds are allocated for wildlife and fish restoration the manufacturers of sporting arms, ammunition, fishing equipment, et cetera, find their market expanded as consumers have a greater opportunity to use their products. Therefore the revenues from these taxes serve both the manufacturers and the public. 4. The equity provisions necessary to any tax appear to have been met in terms of the incidence of the two taxes mentioned. 5. The committee's attention is requested to focus on the 20percent excise taxes now imposed on social, athletic, and sporting clubs that have dues and assessments of more than $10. It is the contention that they are not significantly different from other nonprofit organizations which do not now have to pay such taxes. SUBJECT: MANUFACTURERS SPORTING GOODS LACROSSE WITNESS: HON. CLARENCE D. LONG, MEMBER OF CONGRESS, STATE OF MARYLAND. SUMMARY OF STATEMENT (Prepared by staff of Committee on Ways and Means) It is urged that the Federal excise tax on lacrosse balls and lacrosse sticks be repealed. Such items are doubly taxed because nearly all are imported and pay a duty tax also. The tax revenues are trifling, the number of persons involved is small and the burden of the tax falls upon a single firm. It is questionable whether the revenues collected cover the cost of collection of the tax. Introduced James F. Adams, president, U.S. Lacrosse Coaches Association, and U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association. SUBJECT: MANUFACTURERS SPORTING GOODS-LACROSSE WITNESS: JAMES F. ADAMS, PRESIDENT, U.S. LACROSSE COACHES ASSOCIATION, AND MEMBER OF EXECUTIVE BOARD OF U.S. INTERCOLLEGIATE LACROSSE ASSOCIATION. SUMMARY OF STATEMENT A. Identification and qualification of the witness. B. Brief explanation of the sport of lacrosse. C. Outline of the levels upon which the sport is played: (1) Scholastic; (2) Collegiate; (3) Junior lacrosse; and (4) Club lacrosse. D. Recommendation for elimination of the excise tax on lacrosse balls and sticks and reasons therefor: (1) Unique, solely amateur basis upon which the sport is played; (2) Burden of tax ultimately on normal individual purchaser of lacrosse sticks and balls; (3) Exceedingly slight impact on Federal revenues if tax is removed; (4) Removal of tax affords lacrosse balls and sticks comparable treatment with other similar sporting goods; (5) Encouragement of participation in sport as part of current overall physical fitness program. SUBJECT: MANUFACTURERS-PHONOGRAPH RECORDS WITNESS: HENRY BRIEF, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, PRE- SUMMARY OF STATEMENT I. The manufacturers' excise tax on phonograph records is completely inconsistent with the general tax policy of the United States since it burdens an important means of disseminating culture and education. II. History of the tax on phonograph records. A. What was true in 1917 is not true today. III. The artistry and culture of the recorded art. A. Language records. B. Recorded drama and literature. C. Talking books for the blind. D. Religious music. E. Opera on records. F. American music on records. H. History on records. I. Pop songs, Broadway musicals, and comedy records. IV. The exemption of books, sheet music, and piano rolls renders arbitrary and capricious continued taxation on phonograph records. V. Relatively little revenue will be lost by repeal of this discriminatory tax. VI. Conclusion. The 10-percent manufacturers' Federal excise tax on phonograph records should be repealed because 1. The tax is discriminatory since it is imposed on a product, largely cultural and educational in character, which is in competition for the consumer's dollar with books, sheet music, and other art forms and communications media on which an excise tax is not imposed. 2. The tax returns a comparatively small amount of revenue to the Government-less than 1 percent of the total excise taxes collected annually. Its burden falls on those who are interested in music and education, including schools, children, and the blind. Record manufacturers are also burdened with the expense of collecting and accounting for this tax money--an expense that almost equals the sum collected by the Government. 3. Inhibiting any communications medium is not favored in this country. The Founding Fathers, by the first amendment to the Constitution, gave express recognition to the importance of a free flow of communications to the Nation and the Supreme Court has not been remiss in safeguarding this basic right from being infringed. The Court has held that any tax on knowledge is obnoxious to the 1st and 14th amendments. While our regard for these ideals would result in the complete rejection of any suggestion that an excise tax be levied against book or periodical publishers, the Treasury has seen fit to single out the phonograph record industry from among all other media as a proper object of taxation. SUBJECT: MANUFACTURERS—PHONOGRAPH RECORDS WITNESS: PHILIP L. MILLER, NEW YORK, N.Y. SUMMARY OF STATEMENT SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD Public libraries have been amassing record collections for circulating and reference purposes since 1914. Records make music available in a way never possible before and help create a demand for musical books and scores. The Library of Congress has placed recordings on the same level as books, issuing catalog cards for readers on a subscription basis, just as it does for books. Records have made possible the preservation of the artistry of nearly every great musician of the 20th century. In other fields, such as jazz, they have enabled the art to be completely documented. It has often been said that the social history of a period is written in its popular songs, and we have these songs as they were actually performed in their day via records. In addition, recordings have insured the perpetuation for future generations of our folksongs and the historical events of the world from the epochal speeches of William Jennings Bryan through the assassination of President Kennedy. Whether they are used for home entertainment, cultural betterment, pedagogy, documentation, or scholarship, no one today can seriously question the value of records as educational materials. Neither the manufacturer nor the consumer should be taxed as though these were unneeded luxuries. Accordingly, the manufacturers' excise tax should be removed from records. SUBJECT: MANUFACTURERS PHONOGRAPH RECORDS WITNESS: CHARLES L. GARY, ASSOCIATE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, MUSIC EDUCATORS NATIONAL CONFERENCE. SUMMARY OF STATEMENT (Prepared by staff of Committee on Ways and Means) Phonograph records have become a most important tool for the music educator, and an indispensable part of music education. The present blanket excise tax on phonograph records taxes items that are used for purely educational purposes in our schools. |