Setting the stage for tax tweaking

As Nevada's new tax laws are implemented, they're getting some fine-tuning to keep them in line with the intent of state legislators when they were approved last summer.

In the latest example, the state's Tax Commission decided a $100 business license was too much a burden on crafters and artists who show up for a few days at a fair like Genoa's annual Candy Dance.

It was a good decision, because we doubt the Legislature ever intended to put a damper on such events - which, like the Candy Dance, often are fund-raisers for a variety of causes - by stripping the profit away from small-time vendors.

The commission also has taken up issues ranging from karaoke singers under the entertainment tax to banks and their per-branch assessment.

Lawmakers knew when they approved the tax package there would be plenty of details to work out, and the Tax Commission has done a good job of tackling those questions with common sense.

One of the reasons the rulesmakers can be big-hearted about issues like craft fairs is the continuing resurgence of the state's economy. Five straight months of gains in retail sales statewide have put Nevada 10 percent ahead of last year, double the forecasts on which the budget were based.

If the economy were still struggling, rest assured there would be people arguing for strict interpretations of the tax rules so that everyone pays his "fair share."

We bring all this up because the condition of the economy will be the stage-setter for discussions in the 2005 legislative session for how to further tweak the tax packages.

There will certainly be calls to roll back at least some of the new and higher taxes approved in 2003, no matter how the economy is faring. And if the state is still bustling along at double-digit sales-tax growth, there could be a free-for-all as noisy as the last session.

Two guiding principles should prevail: That state spending not increase simply because more revenue is available (if that's the case), and that tax relief should be spread as evenly and fairly as the tax burden.