Bachelor Tax

The town of Repelen, near the Dutch border, decided to impose a tax of 2,000 marks a month upon all bachelors over the age of 18. Young men were to be allowed an abatement of 25% if they were between the ages of 18 and 23. Those with little or no income were to be given immunity. The Federal authorities however, were quick to prick this Repelen bubble. They declared that the question of income tax was a matter for the Federal Finance Ministry in Berlin.

Neighboring towns had better luck, for Hamborn city fathers introduced the same tax under a per capita assessment. In other places bachelors are being subjected to a residence tax.

It seems that bachelorphobia is slowly ravishing the world. It was felt in Austria (TIME, April 14). An outbreak occurred in Turkey (TIME, May 5). Now it has spread to Germany.