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TWO MECFOHD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE
Thursday, January 31, 1957
eauctsons on Federal Income Tax Uet
Editor'! note: Thi Is the fourth of
five articles to hrlp taxpayers In
making out their federal Income tax
return.
By RUSSELL C. HARRINGTON
Commissioner of Internal
Revenue
Written lor United Press
Washington (U.R) May a
taxpayer deduct from his in
come the $5 he gave to Hungar
ian refugee relief? May he de
duct a political contribution?
Those are two of the kind of
special questions which are
popping up this year. Last year,
people were asking about deduc
tions for hurricane and flood
damage. Every year we are
asked about deductions for med
ical expenses, for payments to
a nursery school for taking care
of the -youngster while jpother
works and for interest payments
on installment buying.
As the law allows you cer
tain tax-free $600 exemptions
for yourself and your depend
ents, so it allows you certain
amounts for such things as con
tributions, interest payments,
state and local taxes, medical ex
penses, child care, some losses;
even if you had none of them
during the year.
In claiming the deduction, you
deduct a certain amount from
your income, thereby reducing
the amount which is taxed.
Everyone is entitled to at least
the standard deduction, which
allows you approximately 10 per
cent of your income for deducti
ble outlays, even if you spent
less than that or nothing at all.
If you claim the standard deduc
tion, you cannot claim it for
more than $1,000. In most cases
It comes to less than that.
Standard Deduction
Taxpayers who file their re
turn on the card form 1040A
and those who figure their tax
from the tax table in the offi
cial instructions take the stand
ard deduction. It is automatically
calculated in the tax these peo
ple owe.
Taxpayers who compute their
own tax may take either a stand
ard or an itemized deduction.
11 your contributions and oth
er deductible expenses come to
more than the standard deduc
tion allows, your best bet may
be to list them all, in the spaces
provided on page 2 of Form
1040. Listing each deduction
item-by-item removes you from
the percentage and dollar limits
of the standard deduction.
The rest of this article is de
voted to deductions which may
be claimed if you itemize your
deductions. It may be worth
your while to add up your de
ductible outlays on a separate
sheet first, to see if they give
you a bigger deduction than the
standard allowance.
Contributions are deductible
If they go to religious, charita
ble, educational, scientific or
literary organizations, so long
as the organization is not operat
ed for personal profit and does
not carry on propaganda or try
to influence legislation.
This means contributions to
qualified Hungarian relief
groups, such as the Americanself. Regardless of the number ing or laundering, you may de-
urn Long Form 10
Klamath Welfare
Probe Ordered
Salem (U.R) Investigation of
complaints against the operation
of the Klamath County Welfare
Commission has been ordered by
State Welfare Administrator
Jean Jewett, Gov. Robert D.
Holmes announced today.
Gov. Holmes said a petition
with 76 signatures had been re
ceived by his office charging
the Klamath county agency with
"unequal and shameful treat
ment of welfare cases" ' and
blaming it with the situation
leading to a shooting incident
there last month.
One commissoiner was killed
and two persons injured in the
shooting.
Miss Jewett said she was or
dering a full scale investigation
into the charges and that the
commission's assistant attorney
general would go to Klamath
county next week to take testi
mony from the signers.
Seamen Quit Work in
Tribute to Lundeberg
San Francisco ;U.PJ Thou
sands of seamen aboard ships
in American and Canadian ports
quit work today in tribute to
the memory of maritime leader
Harry Lundeberg.
Funeral services for "Lunde
berg were scheduled this after
noon with interment to follow
at Olivet Memorial park in
nearby Colma.
Lundeberg died Monday of a
heart attack.
He was secretary-treasurer of
the Sailors Union of the Pacif
ic; president of the Seafarers
International Union of North
America; head of the AFL-CIO
Maritime Trades Department;
and belonged to several interna
tional trade union groups.
FIRE TOLL REACHES 10
New Haven. Conn. U.R)
The death toll in last Thursday's
garment factory fire rose to 10
Wednesday night with the death
of Mrs. Teresa Sulo. 43. The
other nine victims were burned
to death during the fire which
swept a four-story loft building.
Red Cross and others, are de
ductible.
Contributions to the 1956
election campaign, to candidates
or parties, are not deductible.
Child Care: You are not per
mitted to deduct for baby sitter
fees when you go to the movies.
Deductions for child care are
designed primarily for mothers
who are working or actively
looking for work, or for a man
who is divorced or legally
separated or a widower.
Women and these eligible
men may deduct up to S600 a
year, if it costs that much to
have someone look after the
child while they are at work or
seeking work. The child must be
the taxpayer's own child, step
child or legally adopted child
under 12 or any other depend
ent who is physically or mental
ly incapable of caring for him-
of children being cared for, the
taxpayer may not deduct more
than S600, and may not deduct
that much if the care actually
costs less.
A working wife may claim
the deduction only if she files
a joint return with her hus
band. If their combined income
is more than $4,500 the deduc
tion they may claim is reduced
by the amount of any income
over $4,500. For example ($100
higher than $4,500) and their
child care costs were $400, they
could deduct only $300 ($100
less than S400L,
You may not deduct amounts
paid to one of your children
to take care of another, or paid
to some other dependent to care
for your child. If you have a
maid or housekeeper who looks
after the child and also does
something like cooking, clean-
duct only that part of her pay
which represents the time she
spends caring for the child.
Medical Expenses: Basically,
you are allowed to deduct medi
cal and dental expenses if they
run higher than three per cent
of your income. You do not
deduct that first three per cent
portion, but you do deduct the
amount above that. If you are
65 or older, you may deduct all
your own medical expenses.
There are ceilings in all cases.
For instance, a single person
claiming only the one exemp
tion for himself is limited to a
$2,500 medical-dental deduction
in one year; married couples
filing a joint return are limited
to $5,000 if they have no de
pendent, $7,500 with one de
pendent, $10,000 if they have
two or more dependents.
You may deduct payments to
physicians, surgeons, dentists,
optometrists, qualified psychol
ogists and Christian Science
practitioners. Also the expenses
of diagnosis, treatment or pre
vention of a disease; hospital
bills, nursing, laboratory ser
vices; eyeglasses, hearing aids,
drugs (any amount spent for
drugs (any amount spent for
drugs over one per cent of your
income), medical and dental
supplies (including false teeth
and artificial limbs), ambulance
hire and health insurance plans
which cover the cost of medical
care.
Note: If you receive payments
from a health insurace plan,
or are otherwise repaid for
your medical or dental expen
ses, your reduction is reduced
accordingly.
Storm Losses: Generally, the
deducation you may claim for
storm, flood or other casualty
40 Explain
damage to your property is the vide by 12, take six per cent of
difference between the value of
your whole property immediate
ly afterwards (before you clean
it up). This applies whether you
lose a bush or a house.
You may not deduct the cost
of repair or replacement; just
the lost value. Sentimental value
does not count. The loss you
claim may not be greater than
what you paid for the property.
Interest: The interest you pay
on a mortgage or a personal loan
or back taxes may be deducted.
It is clearly designated and
easily reported.
On many installment purch
ases, there may be no interest
fee as such, but a carrying
charge which includes the inter
est. The law tells you how to
figure the interest: Calculate
how much you owed on your
purchase at the start of each
month; add these amounts, di-
the answer and report it as in
terest. The deduction may not
exceed the total carrying charge
for the whole year.
Taxes: As a general rule, you
can deduct most state and local
taxes imposed directly on you,
such as income, real estate and
personal property and sales
taxes. You may not deduct:
Federal sales or excise taxes,
federal social security taxes,
hunting or dog licenses, water
taxes or auto inspection fees.
Let me repeat: You may not
claim any of these deductible
items unless you list all your
deductions one-by-one; you may
not claim them if you take the
standard deduction.
Friday: Deductions for sick
ness or injury; tax benefits
for persons with pensions or
annuities.
any similarity to
a sports car
is purely intentional !
THE '57 CHEVROLET. . . sweet, smooth and sassy!
It doesn't just look like it loves the road, clings to curves and
laughs at hills. That's the way it goes. Come on in and see that
you don't have to own a sports car to have fun behind the wheel.
It's not just a happy coincidence
that this new Chevy handles and
acts like a pedigreed sports car.
Chevrolet engineers planned it that
way from the start
They set out to build a car that
would take to the road like it really
and truly belonged there. A car
with crisp, solid steering and quick
silver responsiveness. A car that
would travel true through a tight
turn and hold a string-straight
course with just a light touch on
the wheel. A car with riding
qualities that would make all the
streets and highways out your
way suddenly seem newer.
And they didn't stop there. They
added new velvety V8 power that
ranges up to 245 h.p.
Come in and see what Chevrolet
has done for driving fun! .
'Special high-performance t70-h.p.
engine also available at exti
The Bel Air Convertible with Body by Fisher (above). The dashing Chevrolet Corvette (at right)
Only franchised Chevrolet dealers Q&jlff display this famous trademark
(CIHIEVmciDILIETr
Phone
2-6115
Medford
SAVE! SAVE!
SAVE
GROCETERIA
DOLLAR
DAYS
SEE THE
GROCETERIA AD
ON PAGES 6-7