Galloway finds refunds to taxpayers have gotten increasingly delayed

Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway released an audit on Monday about the timeliness of income tax refunds by the Department of Revenue.

The audit revealed that refunds to taxpayers have been increasingly delayed.

Galloway said she issued the report despite a number of attempts by Gov. Greiten’s administration to obstruct audit work.

Galloway said the delays were due to the administration paying other state expenses before paying taxpayer’s refunds.

The number of late refunds has increased over the last several years, but worsened in 2017 with 155,000 refunds paid with late interest, an increase of 86%.

“The administration is balancing its checkbook on the backs of individual taxpaying Missourians – that is simply unacceptable,” Galloway said. “Throughout this audit, my office received thousands of calls and e-mails from taxpayers who were rightfully frustrated because they were not receiving the money they were owed.”

Galloway said that during the 2017 tax season, the Department of Revenue had $200 million worth of refunds processed and ready to be paid to Missourians, but the Office of Administration directed the Department of Revenue not to pay the refunds because other spending priorities came first.

“As this audit shows, my office will not be deterred from protecting taxpayer dollars by a lack of cooperation from the administration or government secrecy trying to hinder our work,” Galloway said.