Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 54, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 March 1917 — SAYS WINNINGS ARE TAXABL[?] [ARTICLE]

SAYS WINNINGS ARE TAXABL[?]

Internal Revenue Collector Declares . Uncle Sam in on All Games of Chance. San Francisco. —Uncle Sam If dealing a hand of showdown and It looks like a stacked deck. Joseph J. Scott, collector of Internal revenue for the northern California district, has officially decided that all “winnings” are taxable as income under this year’s Income tax law. Ha says profits of card games, bets or other kinds of gambling come under the head of “speculative gain,” and he wants his share. So when you draw that card that makes them “all blue” Uncle has bin hand in the pot; when your ten to one shot "comes through” he is standing beside the bookmaker; and when you pull for a “seven or eleven” you will hear him pulling with you. Scott says the law will be enforced. Stewards and managers of downtown clubs have beemrafced to co-operate with federal agents to figure the amount of individual profits of members who participate In games of chance. But by a strange Inconsistency the tax law does not work inversely. Winnings nre taxable, but losses are not deductible. It’s a fine little game of “heads I win and tails you lose" with Uncle Sam.