The on-going battle between business lobbyists and the state Department of Revenue certainly is political, but it also likely has to do with a touch of fear.

How else to explain the visceral aversion felt by so many last winter to a Schweitzer administration plan to enlarge the department to crack down on out-of-state folks said to be going light on millions of dollars worth of taxes owed the state?

That instantaneous rejection doomed the plan in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

Since then, the issue has simmered. Just last week a war of words erupted between the Montana Taxpayers Association and Revenue Director Dan Bucks over a multi-state pact giving people who owe out-of-state taxes a break on penalties and interest if they voluntarily agree to pay up. Also last week the Legislature's interim tax committee deadlocked 6-6 over installing Rep Bob Lake, R-Hamilton, as chairman because of his strong criticism of Bucks' expansion plan.

All this angst is mysterious to most Democrats, who wonder what's wrong with getting people to pay taxes they rightfully owe. Democrats understand that opposition to bigger government is routine on the GOP side of the aisle, but the reaction to a bigger Revenue Department was anything but routine.

Part of the reason may involve the amount and types of revenue that a Montanan must report. People with relatively small incomes - incomes pretty much accounted for on their W-2 forms - can send back relatively simple tax returns and small tax payments that almost certainly won't be questioned. They have nothing to fear from a strengthened Revenue Department.

On the other hand, people with large, complex returns have a lot more to worry about, especially when even accountants can find complying with tax laws something of a guessing game.

These taxpayers have heard horror stores about vindictive IRS auditors - some of them no doubt true - and the last thing they want is a beefed up state Revenue Department to give them grief as well.

Sometimes, the answer to whether strengthening the state's ability to collect taxes is a common-sense goal or a sinister power grab may lie in the size of the beholder's net worth.