FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1944
Your Federal
Income Tax Return
(Continued From Page 10)
too broad a question for a categori
> cal answer. To illustrate, the en
k larged credit for dependents will
tend to reduce the tax in some
cases, but the changed definition
as to who constitutes a dependent
is likely to increase it in others.
However, it is my guess that most
of us will find ourselves paying 10%
to 20% more than we did last year
on the same income,
cipal points should be of interest.
It is not my intention to furnish
you with detailed instructions for
the preparation of your tax return;
you will find those accompanying
the blank. It is rather my purpose
to furnish you with the proper
background to enable you to read
those instructions intelligently and
here and there to plant a danger
signal.
Who Should File?
Everyone must file who has a
gross income of SSOO or more, re
gardless of his age or state of de-
*
r The birth of the Christ babe 1944
years ago this December 25th, gave
t ‘ “ -*
to tjhe world a glorious spirit which
is commemorated by this day. In
that spirit we wish you the season’s
I
greetings.
GEO. Y. WAH
x.. . sJjZLf
75fe£x '¥ > ?SSBs> llji?yw?w3 -
pendency. The previous require
ment for a single person was $500;
for a married person living with
spouse, $624; for a married couple,
$1,200. So many will now have to
file who were hitherto exempt.
Since no one needs to file whose
gross income is under SSOO, the
wife, for instance, with S3OO in
come, is relieved of that necessity.
But don’t let this mislead you! Her
tax-paying husband will find it
best, just the same, to file a joint
return including her income, for
if he files separately he loses the
surtax credit for his wife, as we
shall see.
Single persons whose gross in
come is less than SSOO also should
file if some of it was subject to
withholding; by doing so they will
obtain refunds. Married persons in
this situation will accomplish the
same thing by filing joint returns.
Personal Exemptions
The prior law gave a married
person an exemption of $1,200,
which applied both to normal and
surtax. So also to the head of a
family, but this classification is
now abolished. The present law al-
Coolidge Man Tickles British Sense
Os Humor By Naming War Vehicles
\ ■ ■
Ak v V Jf ♦ I '' ’" : :
Pfc. Joseph R. Chesley, official sign painter at the'3l6th U. S. Army
Station Hospital, England, the finishing touches on a jeep which
he has christened “Buzz-Bonb.”
Private First Class Joseph R.
Chesley, 21, of Coolidge, aids in
expediting evacuation of wounded
lows a personal exemption for nor
mal tax of SSOO, without respect to
married status or number of de
pendents. On a Joint return it
allows SI,OOO, but only if both hus
band and wife have SSOO or more
of “adjusted gross” income (ex
plained later). If one has less than
SSOO income, the joint exemption
is SSOO plus that adjusted gross in
come. Marital status is to be de
termined as it exists at the end of
the year, except in the case of
death, when the date of death
governs. Under prior law, any
change had to be prorated.
For surtax, the credit is SSOO for
the taxpayer himself, SSOO for his
spouse, and SSOO for each depend
ent. The credit for married couples
can no longer be divided between
them at will. Thus a favorit de
vice for saving tax disappears. The
surtax credit for spouse may be
claimed on a joint return, but not
on a separate return if the spouse
has any gross income, or is a de
pendent of anyone else.
This will often make it possible
to save tax by filing a joint return.
For instance, if the wife has in
come of S3OO, the husband, by filing
a joint return, may gain a SSOO sur
tax exemption. If the surtax in
come is all in the first bracket,
this will save 20% of the difference
or S4O; in the higher brackets, it
will of course, save more.
ARIZONA BLADE-TRIBUNE
American soldiers at the 316th
United States Army station hospi
tal in England—and does it through
*
—-— Uimimcu
GREETINGS
ThE nearness of Yuletide
is unmistakable. Whether snow festoons the
fir trees or whether earth still awaits its mantle
of white, woods and fields, city and town
breathe Christmas and its spirit of kindness.
We sincerely hope that the Christmas sea
son of 1944 will be richer for you, fuller, and
more satisfying than for many a year, and
thank you for twelve months of very pleasant
relations.
GEORGE and MAUREEN MONK
SUNSET CAFE
Arizona Blvd. at Coolidge
„ .
wHL COOUDGE SAND jt BOCK CO. JHh
Uhe medium of a paint brush.
As official sign shop artist for
his unit, Pfc. Chesley does the sign
painting around the hospital wards
and other buildings. He also tours
areas within 15 miles of the hospi
tal and plots the most direct routes
to air ports, hospital ship-loading
docks, and rail stations where
hospital trains unload patients.
Off duty, Pfc. Chesley has
achieved a local reputation for his
The Story That Never Grows Old Jgwik
Told in Christmas Carols
Junior-Intermediate Choir of the Methodist Church
CHRISTMAS EVE
Sunday, December 24, 7:30 o’clock
ability to christen Army vehicles.
He has tickled the sense of humor
of British civilians with the names
which he has painted on military
vehicles: “Buzz-bomb,” “Son of a
Blitz,” "Blitz Buggy,” “No-Gum-
Chum,” “Miss Chievious,” “Hitler’s
Hearse,” and the like.
In civil life, Pfc. Chesley was an
oiler in the diesel power plant of
the United 'States Indian Service
at Coolidge. He entered the serv
ice in February, 1943, training at
jte:
Miiji i .
Two such simple words. Yet no
other words can say the same thing
better! To them we add three more,
equally familiar words spoken to
convey a meaning no other phrase
fulfills. Happy New Year.
* 1
Arizona Pharmacy
(
Coolidge, Arizona
Page Eleven
Camp Barkeley, Texas, and Camp
White, Oregon.
Son of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Ches
ley of Coolidge, he has three
brothers in the service: Corporal
Horace Chesley, 29, an army engi
neer now in France; Sergeant Don
ald Chesley, 27, also an engineer
on the Burma front; and Seaman
First Class Kenneth Chesley, 24,
a medic with the United States
Navy stationed in San Diego, Cali
fornia.