Cut out tax before the start of December (7)
I believe the answer is:
excised
'cut out' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'tax before the start of december' is the wordplay.
'tax' becomes 'excise' (excise is a kind of tax).
'before' says to put letters next to each other.
'the start of december' becomes 'd' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'excise'+'d'='EXCISED'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for excised that I've seen before include "Deleted" , "Having charges" , "Cut out, removed by cutting away" , "Taken out" .)