31 AUGUST 1934, Page 35

U.S. IxcomE TAX CL.ums.

I do not think that the ordinary individual need worry about the income tax claims which it is understood are now being made by the income tax authorities in the United States upon residents abroad who have made any profits in operations in the New York Stock Markets. Nevertheless, the matter is of some importance and, perhaps, of some concern to wealthy individuals who may have made some profits in this manner. In this country, if X. Y. Z. has a flutter on the Stock Exchange and (by some extraordinary stroke of luck !) obtains a substantial profit, such profit is not taxable, being merely an addition to capital. Just as, on the other hand, if as a result of the flutter " he were to lose a certain amount, he could not deduct the loss froth his yearly income in making a return. In America, however, when a profit is definitely secured the result is taxable whether the individual is a pro- fessional Stock dealer or an ordinary investor. On this side of the Atlantic the professional dealer would, of course, have to declare his profits and losses and pay income tax on any profit balance, but not the ordinary individual.

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