Tuxedo Industry Ties Up Tax Panel With Lobbying

WASHINGTON — In months of effort to pull together the most drastic overhaul of the nation’s tax system, the House Ways and Means Committee has confronted few choices that were black and white--at least, not until Monday.

Tucked within the far-reaching issues presented behind closed doors to a committee task force on depreciation was a complaint by tuxedo store owners and manufacturers that they were getting taken to the cleaners by the government’s depreciation rules.

So the task force set aside its other business and debated whether it is realistic to expect a rented monkey suit to last through nine years of proms and weddings.

Several staff members said the question was brought before the panel by Republican Rep. Richard T. Schulze, whose home state of Pennsylvania produces a goodly share of the nation’s tuxedos. Schulze and members of his staff were not available for comment.

By the time the meeting broke up, the committee had agreed that the tuxedo lobby had a legitimate gripe and was leaning toward recommending that those who offer tuxedos for rent be allowed to write them off in two or three years.

“But it wasn’t a formal agreement,” added one staff member, snickering at his pun.