State Auditor Nicole Galloway called out the Missouri Department of Revenue Tuesday after receiving calls from more than 1,000 Missourians who have not received their state tax refunds.
Galloway is currently auditing the department's timeliness of issuing tax refunds for the past two years. State law requires interest to be paid on refunds issued after 45 days of a return being filed. The deadline to issue all refunds was Friday.
Galloway sent a letter to Department of Revenue Director Joel Walters urging the department to process outstanding refunds as quickly as possible.
"Many have reported that their attempts to contact the Department of Revenue have been unsuccessful," Galloway said in the letter. "They report long wait times, disconnected calls, the inability to speak to a representative when seeking status information on their refunds, and receiving a refund after 45 days without receiving interest."
Department of Revenue Spokeswoman Michelle Gleba told the News Tribune all refund returns not requiring a manual review should be processed by June 30. She did not reply to a follow-up asking whether taxpayers would receive interest on late refunds or how long it would take for returns requiring reviews to be processed.
Galloway said that wasn't good enough for Missouri taxpayers.
"June 30 is not a relevant date to taxpayers still awaiting their refund," Galloway said. "They rightfully want to know the status of their refund and that they will be receiving the additional interest they are owed."
Galloway issued a subpoena to the department in April after it failed to provide her with documents pertaining to the audit. In a news conference announcing the subpoena, she called out Gov. Eric Greitens for a lack of government transparency.
According to the auditor's website, about $5.67 million worth of refunds had been issued as of Monday. The website - launched earlier this year - also tracks the state's daily spending from the General Revenue Fund.
It's not known when the audit reviewing the department's refund timeliness for the past two years will be complete, and Galloway's office did not return a call for comment Tuesday.