If you’re expecting a tax refund check from the State of Missouri, it might take a little longer to get there this year.

Budget cuts are not dipping into tax refunds, but they are decreasing the number of people who process them.

Department of Revenue spokesman Ted Farnen says the department usually brings on about 300 temporary employees during tax season … this year, it’s making do with less than half that.

Farnen says the department will process a total of nearly 3 million tax returns by the filing deadline. Of those, more than half will come in between now and April 15.

He says those filing electronically will see their refund check sooner than those filing paper returns. On average it can take up to 17 business days to get a refund, but Farnen says for some people, it’s been even longer.

About 60 percent of Missourians are filing electronically, up from around 57 percent last year.

Farnen says the department made it a priority to issue refund checks quickly to those with a property tax credit, since those taxpayers comprise disabled, elderly and low-income individuals.

He stresses that refunds are coming, no doubt about that, they’re just coming a little later than usual this year.

Jessica Machetta reports [Download/listen MP3]

A House bill would let consumers roll the sales tax on vehicle purchases into their financing package. And it would make dealers who opt into the service a one-stop shop for licensing that new car.

This bill is designed to help out the consumer — so says the bill’s sponsor, Representative Tim Jones.

Jones says this is an opt-in bill, meaning smaller dealers could choose not to offer the service.

Still, smaller auto and marine dealers were at the committee hearing to oppose the bill, saying this would hurt their businesses, which are already struggling in a soft economy. They say it would either force them to lose business … or pay more than they could afford to offer the service.

The Missouri Bankers Association is backing the legislation. And the Missouri Auto Dealers Association supports the bill, saying the current system is quickly becoming outmoded. That organization says Missouri’s one of only four states that do not offer this option to consumers and dealers. It also says the computer systems that track such data for the state are virtually infallable.

Jones says his bill makes the process easier for consumers, but would also help the state by keeping customers from car shopping in Illinois, Iowa or Kansas.

BILL SUMMARY:

This bill allows motor vehicle and boat dealers to act as fee agents for the Department of Revenue to register and license motor vehicles and trailers; to title and register boats, vessels, and outboard motors; and to collect sales and use taxes on motor vehicles and boats at the time of the initial sale or lease. Any dealer who elects to collect the sales and use tax must file a return and remit the tax collected, less a 2% timely filing deduction, to the Department of Revenue. Penalties will be imposed for late filing, and the department can electronically survey all motor vehicle dealer accounts to determine if payments have been timely remitted. The sales tax imposed on a used vehicle, trailer, boat, or motor will be at least 80% of the average trade-in value as determined by the current volume of the National Automobile Dealers Association’s Official Used Car Guide, Central Edition, regardless of the purchase price.

Jessica Machetta reports [Download/listen MP3]