The Missouri Department of Revenue requires us to file and pay our taxes on time. Likewise, we should expect the same of them when it comes to issuing tax refunds.
This past week, State Auditor Nicole Galloway criticized the department, which has received calls from more than 1,000 Missourians who have not received their state tax refunds.
Galloway currently is auditing the department's timeliness of issuing tax refunds for the past two years. State law was changed in 2015 so it now requires interest to be paid on refunds issued after 45 days of a return being filed. The deadline to issue all refunds without paying interest was Friday.
On Wednesday, we reported Galloway sent a letter to 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 spokeswoman Michelle Gleba didn't respond to a question as to whether taxpayers would receive interest on late refunds.
We trust they will. It's not that interest payments will make much of a difference in our lives one way or another. But it's about principle. This is money that legally is owed to taxpayers who have waited too long for a refund.
Trust in government in general isn't particularly high right now, so governmental agencies need to do everything they can to gain the trust of the people who are paying their salaries.
The Department of Revenue should explain why refunds are taking so long, and - like the auditor said - let people know the status of their refunds.
If the department is short-staffed, that needs to be communicated to the public and to the Legislature.
Also disconcerting is the department's apparent lack of cooperation with auditors. Galloway's office had to issue a subpoena in April to get documents pertaining to the audit.
Revenue and other departments should comply with such requests without subpoenas.