PROBLEMS OF TAX BURDEN 291 
souri! It was indicated also that the ratio for Missouri was 
approximately the same as that for all corporations in the 
United States. If the total taxes paid by Missouri corpora-~ 
tions amounted to $0.38 for every $1.00 of net income re- 
maining after the payment of taxes, it follows that taxes 
were equivalent to approximately 27.5%, of net income before 
the payment of any taxes” It was pointed out that the 
returns used were those from Missouri, and in the discussion 
that follows emphasis will be placed upon this limitation, as 
well as other limitations. 
There are sound objections to the use of the combined 
data from the federal income tax returns for the purpose of 
interstate comparisons of corporation taxes paid or corpora- 
tion tax burdens. These objections seem to be so significant 
that it is doubtful that any conclusion reached on the basis 
of a comparative analysis of the combined data for all cor- 
porations or all corporations in a given class can be given 
much weight. In the first place, the returns from Missouri 
include property taxes and other taxes paid on account of 
branches and business done in other states. The data are 
particularly unreliable for the purpose of indicating corpora- 
tion tax burdens in Missouri, as compared with other states, 
for the reason that both St. Louis and Kansas City are 
located on the borders of the state and a number of corpora- 
tions have extensive properties in other states. The result 
is that the state and local taxes which are used for Missouri 
in making comparisons of this kind include large amounts of 
property taxes paid not only in adjoining states but in states 
a considerable distance from Missouri. If it could be shown 
that the taxes paid by corporations reporting from other 
states on account of properties owned and business done in 
Missouri offset the taxes paid in other states by corporations 
reporting from Missouri, the validity of the data would be 
greatly enhanced. Any assumption of this kind, however, is 
largely conjectural. 
Another objection to the use of the data as indicated re- 
lates to the assumption that the ratio as computed from the 
combined income and tax data is typical. It is true that the 
1 The Taxation System of Missouri, 1929, p. 31. 
That is. $0.38 divided by $0.38 plus $1.00, or $1.38, equals 27.5%.