Five weeks ago, Stan Howland, a veteran auditor for the state of Idaho, charged that the state tax commission was routinely cutting numerous deals with multi-state corporations to reduce their income tax bills and then keeping the settlements secret. In response, state Sen. Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, who is chairman of the Senate tax committee, said the Legislature needed to look into the practice. Wednesday, he said he wants the governor’s office to conduct a third-party investigation.

At Gov. Butch Otter’s request, tax commissioners responded to the allegations in Howland’s whistle-blower’s report, saying they were doing nothing wrong. They described the secrecy surrounding the settlements as “laudable confidentiality,” adding that the release of any details would hinder their ability to share information with the Internal Revenue Service.

Even Hill, an accountant who disagrees with many of Howland’s points, was not convinced: “I think we could structure it in such a way that we could make it more accessible so that the public and others could judge whether these settlements are appropriate or not …” he wrote in a memo to Otter. He also thought that the commissioners were too quick to dismiss the auditor’s suggestions.

An independent probe is needed so Idahoans can be assured that tax laws are being enforced equitably.