Associated Industries of Missouri (AIM) is pleased the Missouri General Assembly was able to override Governor Jay Nixon’s veto of a bill that will shift the burden of proof to the Missouri Department of Revenue in tax cases.
The House and Senate voted to enact SB 829 over the objections of Governor Nixon by bipartisan votes in both chambers. The vote was 26-6 in the Senate and 113-48 in the House. The bill shifts the burden of proof to the Missouri Department of Revenue (DOR) when the tax agency claims additional taxes are due. It also requires the DOR to prove their case if they disagree a taxpayer is entitled to an exemption, provided the taxpayer has provided initial proof of eligibility for the exemption. The provision is similar to the burden of proof placed on the Internal Revenue Service when dealing with federal tax liabilities.
But the Senate took action on several other important bills that did not receive enough support in the House, and the House restored some job training money that was not acted upon in the Senate.
AIM was also disappointed that Governor Nixon’s veto of taxpayer protections in SB 584 – a bill that would have provided clarification of many tax issues – was allowed to stand.
“The vetoes of the many bills sent a message that the government tax collectors are happy to continue to use the current tax law to treat taxpayers unfairly,” said McCarty. “The goal of these bills was to make the law clearer for the tax collectors and fairer for taxpayers and it is unfortunate the governor did not allow them to become law.”
AIM plans to support legislation in the next session that would establish a legislative board to oversee activities at the Missouri Department of Revenue, a bipartisan idea originally proposed more than a decade ago.
“The types of examples of inconsistencies in taxpayer treatment that have recently come to light and the constant turnover of leadership in the Department of Revenue, combined with term limits in the legislature make discussion of some long term oversight board that can provide long term direction and taxpayer protection very timely,” said McCarty.