TAX WORK AHEAD FOR MISSOURI LEGISLATURE

An interim panel of the Missouri Senate will undertake a comprehensive examination of the state's entire tax code. The committee plans hearings over the next two months in advance of next year's legislative session, which begins in January.

In addition to overall simplification of the state's tax laws, the committee will consider a host of issues. These include offsetting the state's death tax on inheritances, reducing the tax burden on low-income families, changes in the corporate franchise tax for businesses and shifting the burden of proof in disputed tax cases from taxpayers to the department of revenue.

Our nomination for the No. 1 reform is repeal of the keystone tax measure in Mel Carnahan's proudest boast: Senate Bill 380. The biggest part of that tax increase, among the largest in Missouri history, was the ending of full deductibility of federal taxes on state returns. This punishes successful Missourians, not to mention those who aspire to future success. It has caused more than a few to move their tax domicile elsewhere. It is the principal reason that Missouri has had one of the fastest growing tax burdens of any state this decade.

Enactment of so sensible a measure will have to await the election to office of a new governor -- one not beholden to Mr. Carnahan. But even next year, lawmakers could take another step toward tax fairness and simple justice: Abolish Missouri's death tax. The inheritance tax raises only a few millions in a $16 billion annual budget. The state can afford the revenue loss, as Missourians shouldn't have to visit the department of revenue at the same time they visit the undertaker.

Here's hoping, against most experience, that this Senate committee will move Missouri toward a fairer and less punitive tax system.