Kansas & Missouri Offer Tax Amnesty Periods

August 3 — Taxpayers in Kansas and Missouri who owe back taxes from prior years will be able to take advantage of tax amnesty periods beginning in September.

Kansas

In Kansas, taxpayers who owe business or personal taxes accrued before Jan. 1, 2014, will be able to avoid penalties and interest if they pay the past-due taxes between Sept. 1 and Oct. 15.

The amnesty doesn’t apply to matters that are in appeal, under criminal investigation or at issue in any criminal or civil litigation related to taxes imposed by the state, the Kansas Department of Revenue said.

According to the DOR, the amnesty applies to:

•  income tax,
•  privilege tax,
•  estate tax,
•  withholding and estimated tax,
•  sales tax,
•  compensating use tax,
•  liquor enforcement tax,
•  liquor drink tax,
•  cigarette and tobacco products tax, and
•  mineral severance tax.

Missouri

In Missouri, taxpayers owing personal or business taxes accrued before Jan. 1, 2015, will be allowed to avoid penalties, additions to tax and interest if they pay the taxes due between Sept. 1 and Nov. 30.

According to the Missouri Department of Revenue, the following tax types are eligible for the amnesty program:

•  use tax,
•  corporate franchise tax,
•  corporate income tax,
•  employer withholding tax,
•  fiduciary tax,
•  individual income tax,
•  sales tax, and
•  vendor’s use tax.

The amnesty doesn’t extend to taxpayers who are subject to civil or criminal investigation regarding unpaid Missouri taxes, and taxpayers who participate will become ineligible for future amnesty periods for the same type of tax, the DOR said.

Participants also are required to comply with state tax laws for eight years after the amnesty, the DOR said. Failure to comply will void the amnesty agreement, triggering an immediate requirement to pay any penalties, additions to tax or interest that were waived under the amnesty.

For More Information

Details on the Kansas amnesty period are at http://www.ksrevenue.org/taxamnesty.html.

Details on the Missouri amnesty period are at http://dor.mo.gov/faq/amnesty.php.