Associated Industries of Missouri issues statement following Governor Nixon’s veto of multiple taxpa

Associated Industries of Missouri president Ray McCarty today expressed his disappointment with Governor Jay Nixon’s veto of many bills that were priorities for Missouri employers this session, but vowed to continue to fight to override the governor’s veto in the upcoming veto session in September.

McCarty said the package of bills addressed many issues that were important for taxpayers.  “These bills, which enjoyed bipartisan support, would have helped taxpayers by more clearly defining the exemptions that are currently on the books,” said McCarty. “The Missouri Department of Revenue has recently indicated they believe taxes are due on transactions we believe should be exempt under current law or that the legislature never intended to tax in the first place and this bill clarified a great number of those types of exemptions.”  Legislators of both parties expressed support for clarifying many of these items.

As a result of the governor’s veto today:

1. Cancer patients will continue to pay sales tax on cancer treatment devices and drugs;

2. Exercise instructors will continue to be hit with large tax bills for taxes they did not collect from people wanting to get in shape;

3. Customers may be asked to pay more on their electric bills to pay for sales taxes on wires and transformers used to deliver electricity to homes and businesses, OR the state may face a large loss of tax revenue if electric companies must take the state to court to obtain the exemption that already exists in the current law;

4. New data centers will continue to avoid Missouri and existing data centers will be placed at a competitive disadvantage until the state clarifies whether the existing sales tax exemptions apply to data processing as we believe the law originally intended;

5. Taxpayers that have paid taxes in error will not be able to receive refunds from the Department of Revenue in some cases;

6. Taxpayers will continue to be considered “guilty” until they prove themselves “innocent” in some tax disputes;

7. The Department of Revenue will continue to change tax collection rules without informing retailers of the changes and continue to collect $200 million in taxes from these retailers – taxes they will not be able to collect from customers; and the list goes on and on.

“The legislature enacted these commonsense measures that would have helped restore some fairness to the tax system and it is unfortunate that Governor Nixon did not sign these bills into law, but this is not the end of the road,” said McCarty. “Fortunately for Missouri taxpayers, the Missouri Constitution allows the Missouri legislature to have the final say and they may override the governor’s vetoes – a goal we will strive for as we approach the veto session September 10.”