Page 2-Friday, July 28, 1978-The Michigan Daily
HOU SE COMMITTEE APPROVES LEGtSLA TION
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Home sellers may get tax break
per cent of taxpayers who claim the An apparent majority of the commit- for profits realized from the sal
standard deduction. tee contends that existing capital gains person's principal home. There
ASHINGTON tAP) - The House The committee also reaffirmed a taxes have stymied investment which, tax if the profits are invested in
ys and Means Committee approved decision taken weeks ago to eliminate in turn, has damaged the economy. home within 18 months. For pers
nce-in-a-lifetime tax break yester- the income tax deduction for state and Present law taxes one-half of capital and older, a portion of the gaini
'for persons who make a profit when local gasoline taxes paid. The amen- gains at the same rate applied to the free even if no new home is purcha
y sell their homes. dment to delete the deduction repeal taxpayer's other income. For most per- If the provision voted by the coi
y voice vote, the committee agreed from the bill was rejected. The sons, the first $10,000 of the second half tee becomes law, most persons, r
exempt from capital gains taxes the Treasury estimates ending the deduc- is exempt from any tax; that above dless of age, who sell their pri;
t $10,000 worth of profit that is tion would increase revenues by $1.1 $10,000 is subject to a "minimum tax" home would face no tax at all.
lized when a person's principal billion annually. of 15 per cent. But even that group of persons
e of a
is no
a new
ons 65
is tax-
ased.
mmit-
regar-
ncipal
would
home, owned and occupied for two
years or more, is sold.
A PERSON could take advantage of
the tax break only once in a lifetime.
Two-thirds of the tax reduction,
costing about $750 million a year, would
go to persons with annual incomes of
$15,000 to $50,000. Those earning $30,000
to $50,000 would get about one-third of
the benefit.
The provision was approved as the
committee sought to wrap up work on a
tax-cut bill that has been stymied by the
panel's inability to agree on how much
of a tax reduction to vote for capital
gains.
IN OTHER action, the committee, re-
versing an earlier decision, defeated an
amendment that would have allowed
those who take the standard deduction
on their income tax returns to deduct
charitable contributions separately
from taxable income. The vote was 22
to 15.
Reps. Barber Conable (R-N.Y) and
Joesph Fisher (D-Va.), offered the
amendment as an incentive for more
Americans to contribute to charity. The
proposal, which would have cost the
Treasury $2.2 billion a year in
revenues, could have benefitted the 75
THE BROAD disagreement on
treatment of capital gains has centered
not on profits from the sale of a home
but those realized when stocks, real
estate and other investments owned a
year or more are disposed of.
IN THEORY, the regular tax and the
minimum tax can mean a total tax of
about 49.1 per cent on capital gains. In
practice, however, the average rate is
about 16 per cent.
There is a special tax break already
face a much smaller tax because
another amendment approved by the
committee earlier in the week would
exempt from taxation any inflation-
caused increase in the value of an asset.
That provision would take effect in 1980.
Benson Ford dies of heart attack
DETROIT (AP) - Benson Ford, a
brother of Ford Motor Co. Chairman
Henry Ford II and a grandson of auto
industry pioneer Henry Ford, died
early yesterday after suffering an ap-
parent heart attack.
Ford, 59, was stricken while aboard
his boat, which was docked in
Cheboygan, a resort community at the
northern tip of Michigan's Lower
Peninsula, the company said. He had
been in poor health for several years.
HIS WIFE, Edith, was with him when
he died.
Benson, second son of the late Edsel
Ford, was a vice president of the Ford
Motor Co., chairman of the firm's
dealer policy board and a director. He
headed the Lincoln-Mercury Division
from 1948 to 1955.
He was not under consideration as a
successor to the company's chairman-
ship in 1982 when Henry Ford II, 61,
plans to step down.
BENSON CITED his health in ex-
plaining several years ago why he was
not interested in Henry's job.
He was hospitalized in 1974 suffering
from heart angina, a condition marked
by recurrent pain in the chest caused by
a sudden decrease of the blood supply to
the heart muscle.
The other brother, William Clay
Ford, 52, was recently named chairman
of Ford's executive committee and
joined a troika consisting of Henry II
and deputy chief executive officer
Philip Caldwell atop the firm.
HENRY II and William Clay were in
Europe on business but were to return
home immediately, the company said.
Benson Ford held more than 1.8
million shares of a special Class B stock
in the company. The family stock
represents just 12 per cent of the equity
in the company but carries 40 per cent
TiE MICIGAN DAILY
Vol. Lxxxvi. No. 5:-S
Friday, July 28, 1978
is edited and managed by students at the University
of Michigan. News phone 764-0562. Second class
postage is paid at Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109.
Published daily Tuesday through Saturday morning
during the University year at 420 Maynard Street,
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109. Subscription rates: $12
September through April (2 semesters) ; $13 by mail
outside Ann Arbor.
Summer session published through Saturday mor-
ning. Subscription rates: $6.50 in Ann Arbor; '7.50 by
mail outside Ann Arbor.
of the vote.
Benson Ford joined the family firm in
1940, dropping out of Princeton Univer-
sity after two years. After serving in
the Army during World War II, he
returned to Ford Motor and became a
vice president.
He was a former national co-
chairman of the national Conference of
Christians and Jews and received
citations for his efforts on behalf of
religious and racial tolerance. He was
active in Detroit civic and cultural af-
fairs.
In addition to his wife, survivors in-
clude a son, Benson Jr., 29; a daughter,
Lynn Alandt, 25; and a sister,
Josephine Ford, whose husband,
businessman Walter Ford II, is
unrelated to the automotive Fords.
Plans for a funeral were not announ-
ced immediately.
An Alternative Periodical A.
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