Galbraith Deducted $4500 for Giving Papers to Library

John Kenneth Galbraith, Warburg Professor of Economics, said yesterday that he took a $4500 income tax deduction for giving personal papers to the Kennedy Library in 1966.

The gift was deductable under the same provision of the tax law as that cited by President Nixon when he claimed a $576,000 deduction for donating his vice-presidential papers to the National Archives.

One of Many

Galbraith's name appeared on a long list of present and former public officials who have made donations to the presidential libraries managed by the General Services Administration. The list was obtained earlier this week by the Scripps-Howard News Service.

The papers came from Galbraith's term in the Office of Price Administration during the Second World War. Also included were some of his early manuscripts. An outside appraiser placed the $4500 value on the papers, Galbraith said.

The portion of the tax code that allows officials to take tax deductions for donations of papers from government service was repealed by Congress in 1969. President Nixon's deduction is controversial because of allegations that the actual delivery of the donated papers occurred after Congress had enacted the repeal measure.

Galbraith said his deduction "doesn't seem to be an excessive tax loophole," but he added that he thought "it is right to close these loopholes."

The list of those donating papers to the government, and presumably taking tax deductions for the gifts, includes former Vice President Hubert Humphrey.