198 THE FISCAL PROBLEM IN MISSOURI 
Much can be said in favor of having the administration 
of the income tax assigned to the State Tax Commission and 
assessing and collecting the tax through district representa- 
tives of the Commission. It was pointed out in the preceding 
section that the state might be divided into districts for 
administrative purposes, and under this plan the district 
representatives of the State Tax Commission could combine 
duties in connection with the general property tax with those 
incident to the assessment and collection of income taxes. 
Such a plan should work out well, since most of the work in 
connection with the income tax would come during the 
earlier part of the year, while during the later part of the 
year the district representative could concentrate on im- 
proving the administration of the general property tax. 
Under such a plan the district representatives serving as 
income tax assessors and collectors could arrange to be at 
principal cities within the respective districts for one or more 
days prior to the final day for filing returns, for the purpose 
of receiving income tax returns and payments on account. 
Foreign corporations doing business in the state could be 
required to send their returns direct to the State Tax Com- 
mission on forms provided by the Commission. The repre- 
sentatives of the Tax Commission in charge of the several 
districts would naturally keep in touch with the central 
office on all income tax matters, particularly those involving 
unusual cases for which the statutes do not make specific 
provision. In time the number of doubtful cases would be 
reduced, since information concerning matters of inter- 
pretation and court decisions would be made available to the 
district representatives by the central office. Meetings of the 
district representatives of the State Tax Commission called 
for the purpose of considering income tax and other problems 
would be helpful. These meetings could be held as often as 
necessary. 
Collection through a system of district offices would no 
doubt be more satisfactory than any other plan which might 
be devised. Returns received under such a system would 
probably be more complete than those received under the 
present system of local assessment. less reason exists for 
delinquency in income tax collections than in the case of most