CAPITOL OFFICE COMMITTEES

State Capitol Member:

201 West Capitol Avenue Ex-officio member of all
Room 204
Jefferson City, MO 65101-6806
committees of the
Tele: (573) 751-3795 House of Representatives
E-Mail:
Crystal.Quade@house.mo.gov

MISSOURI HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Crystal Quade
Minority Caucus Floor Leader
District 132

January 7, 2019

Director Joel Walters

Missouri Department of Revenue
Truman State Office Building
301 West High Street
Jefferson City, MO 65101

Dear Director Walters:

I have filed legislation, House Bill 378, in response to the inaccurate withholding tables the Missouri Department of
Revenue provided to employers for most of 2018 that resulted in too little money being withheld from Missourians’
paychecks. As a result of the department’s error, it has been reported that hundreds of thousands of taxpayers will be
hit with surprise tax bills when they file their state income tax returns in the coming months, including many who
typically receive tax refunds each year.

HB 378 seeks to mitigate the hardship caused by the state’s error by granting taxpayers who owe less than $200 an
additional two months to pay up without incurring penalties or interest charges. Under the circumstances, this is only
fair.

As I work to advance this legislation, I have two questions for your department. First, as precisely as is possible,
how many Missouri taxpayers does the department estimate will owe the state more than they otherwise would have
because of this issue? Second, what would be the anticipated impact on the state’s cash flow if HB 378 becomes
law?

Your prompt response to these questions is imperative since for HB 378 to effectively provide relief to Missouri
taxpayers, it must win final legislative passage and be signed into law prior to the normal April 15 tax deadline.
Because time is a pressing factor, HB 378 contains an emergency clause so that it will take effect immediately upon
being signed by the governor.

I look forward to hearing from you. Please contact my office if you have any other questions.

Sincerely,

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade

132nd District