Thanks to the hard work of many, SB 49 was amended to include language that delays implementation of the IBM/MasterCard decision for another year. The bill was amended today and passed by the House and Senate.
Without the bill, the DOR may have begun assessing companies for purchases of communications and computing equipment that taxpayers believed were exempt under previous Supreme Court cases on August 28, 2017. The bill postpones that date to August 28, 2018, to allow us time to negotiate a true fix for the problems created by the decision.
While we had attempted to address this issue in a more comprehensive manner by abrogating the decision and/or affirming previous Supreme Court decisions, that effort met with some resistance. Director of Revenue Joel Walters and his staff were very helpful in agreeing to a more comprehensive solution, but we were not able to convince all legislators to support the agreed upon language.
“We look forward to continuing to work with the new director in developing a more comprehensive resolution to the problems created by the Missouri Supreme Court in this overreaching decision,” said Ray McCarty, president of Associated Industries of Missouri. “At least we will be able to avoid additional assessments against taxpayers that relied on settled Supreme Court case law when making purchases while we continue negotiations toward language that may be accepted by all parties. We will be asking Governor Greitens to sign this legislation.”
Many groups worked on the fix this year, including AIM, the Missouri Chamber, several cable and telecommunication associations and individual businesses that may have been impacted by the decision. We thank everyone, including the Missouri Department of Revenue, that worked on this difficult project.
The bill now goes to Governor Greitens for his consideration.
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