Americans have always believed in fair play - a concept that means, in part, that you pull your weight and pay your fair share of taxes.

Ohio Gov. Bob Taft tapped into that belief with his recent state tax-code reform proposal, designed to broaden the tax base and lower rates, creating a fairer, simpler and more efficient system.

Friday, Taft's argument received a boost when the Enquirer reported that some major Ohio corporations pay less in state income tax than the average household. The Enquirer analysis of Ohio Department of Taxation data found that six of Ohio's 100 biggest corporations paid only $50 each - yes, $50 - in state taxes in 2001, while 45 firms paid $155,000 or less.

How do they do it? Through complex, arcane accounting sleight-of-hand that shifts corporations' assets and income to lower-tax venues. It works well - too well. Corporate taxes made up 16 percent of the state's general revenue in 1972; today, that figure is only 5.8 percent. That leaves a larger burden to be carried by Ohio's individual taxpayers. Legal it may be, but fair play it is not.

State government has enabled such tactics by tacking a patchwork of exemptions, exceptions and loopholes to the state code. The original motivation for many may have been to spur business and create jobs, but often they just wind up draining state coffers. As Rep. Steve Driehaus, D-Cincinnati, has pointed out, the state's 140-plus "tax expenditures" will bleed Ohio of $9.9 billion in potential revenue this fiscal year. Driehaus has introduced a bill to sunset all such provisions next year, and set up a committee to preserve those expenditures that earn their keep.

Companies and individuals have the right to take the lowest tax rate to which they're legally entitled. And lower corporate taxes for many firms, especially small businesses, may be offset by higher inventory, local or other taxes. But the state's system is so convoluted and out of balance that nobody can agree on what is fair.

The Enquirer study is yet another reason why the General Assembly must get its budget act together. "We want some serious tax reform as part of a total budget package," Taft says. Reform is way overdue.