Taxes were due roughly five months ago, but thousands of Missourians are still waiting to get their state refunds.
According to the Missouri Department of Revenue, 9,671 tax returns have been processed and are pending. That amounts to $20 million that the department has yet to pay out. There are an additional 12,791 tax returns in manual review and just over 7,000 that may be “intercepted by another state agency” for debt payments or other reasons.
The department declined a request for an interview, but did say it has issued more than 1.7 million individual income tax refunds, which is “96.2% of the total issued” at this time in 2018.
The department could not immediately comment on how much interest the state has paid due to late payments, but at the end of July it had paid roughly $800,000.
In November 2018, the state’s Revenue Department implemented a new online system to make the tax process more efficient. However, with a new system, the department cited “growing pains,” which could be the cause for some of the delay this year.
Auditor Nicole Galloway, who announced her bid for Missouri governor in August, said her office is attempting to get more information from the Department of Revenue regarding the delays and when refunds will be sent out.
“Tax time comes at the same time every year,” she said. “It’s September, and Missourians are still waiting to get their own money back from the government. That’s just not right.”
Galloway’s office has sent the names and information of more than 2,000 taxpayers to the department.
Gov. Mike Parson was not immediately available for comment.
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