TAX ADMINISTRATION 
155 
churches, schools, and so on. In 1924 the State Tax Com- 
mission made an extensive survey of such properties and 
estimated their value as $528 million.! On the same basis the 
value of such property at the present time is no doubt close 
to $600 million. This exempt property does not enter into 
the tax base in any manner whatever. 
In attempting to reach intangible property other than 
bank stock the general property tax has not been a success. 
This applies to Missouri and other states that try to tax 
intangibles by means of the general property tax. In 1924 
the Missouri State Tax Commission estimated that $2 billion 
of taxable intangible personal property was escaping taxa- 
tion.2 What the amount now 1s, it is difficult to state. In 
recent months certain statements which indicate that in- 
tangible property in Missouri amounts to four times as much 
as tangible property have been widely circulated throughout 
the state. The basis of comparison used is tangible property, 
not taxable tangible property, and it is doubtful if statistical 
evidence could be produced in support of so broad a con- 
tention. In the same report in which the taxable intangibles 
escaping taxation were estimated at $2 billion, the State 
Tax Commission said: “We believe it very conservative to 
estimate that the value of intangible personal property in 
this state equals the value of the real estate, yet the amount 
returned for taxation is only about 6.7% of the amount of 
real estate returned.” The smaller base used in this compari- 
son would seem to indicate that the recent statements 
alleging a proportion of four to one are questionable. 
It is an undoubted fact that the volume of taxable in- 
tangibles is increasing, and that the proportion reached for 
taxation is declining. In fact, in recent years there has been 
an absolute as well as a relative decline in the amount of 
money, notes, bonds, etc., listed for taxation under the 
general property tax. There are several reasons for the 
decline. In the first place, the general property tax is not 
adapted to the taxation of intangibles. Intangibles are not 
usually visible, and the assessor is often unable to obtain the 
| Biennial Report of the State Tax Commission, 1923-1924, p. 20. 
2 Biennial Report of the State Tax Commission, 1923-1924, p. 20. 
$ Biennial Report of the State Tax Commission, 1923-1924, p. 18.