Employer's Withholding Tax Collection Procedures

Understanding Your Notice

This notice informs employer's withholding tax filers that a required return has not been received. The return must be filed and paid to avoid further collection procedures. You must file even if you had no withholding for the tax period for which you are registered with the Department.

Interest and additions to tax will be applied to the amount due on your return. You may calculate your interest and additions to tax at https://mytax.mo.gov/rptp/portal/home/addition-tax-int-calculator

Resolving Your Notice

File And Pay Your Return: You may file and pay your business taxes online at this link.

You may consider registering your business on the Department’s MyTax Missouri portal. By utilizing the MyTax Missouri portal, you will have access to manage your business tax account online. You will find Registration instructions and Frequently Asked Questions at https://mytax.mo.gov/.

Once you’ve calculated the amount due, you may pay that amount by sending a check or money order, made payable to the Department of Revenue to the address listed on the notice. You may also pay the amount due online via electronic funds transfer from your bank account. The Department also accepts MasterCard, Visa, Discover, and American Express. Call the Department’s interactive payment service toll free at (888) 929-0513. There will be a convenience fee charged to your account for processing.

If you do not file and pay in full:

• Additions to tax and interest on any balance remaining after the due date will continue to accrue until fully paid;
• The Department will issue a notice of deficiency;
• Further collection actions will occur; and
• If you also make retail sales, your sales tax license will be revoked and you will not be able to legally operate your business.

Understanding Your Notice

You received this notice because:

• The Department received a correctly completed return;
• The return indicated you have a balance due; and
• The Department did not receive a payment in full.

Resolving Your Notice

You may resolve this notice by paying the balance in full. Paying the balance due before the due date will avoid additions and interest charges to your account. You may:

• Pay the amount due.

If your business has signed up to use the MyTax Missouri portal service, you may pay your business taxes online using this link https:/mytax.mo.gov. By utilizing the MyTax Missouri portal, you will have access to manage your business tax account online. You will find Registration instructions and Frequently Asked Questions at https://mytax.mo.gov/.

If you do not pay in full prior to the due date:

• You will be charged additions to tax and interest on any balance remaining after the due date until fully paid;
• The Department will issue a notice of deficiency; and
• Further collection actions will occur.

Understanding Your Notice

If you did not resolve a debt associated with the Adjustment Notice, Non-Filer Notice, or a Balance Due Notice, the Department will issue an assessment to you. This is a statutory notice that assesses the tax, interest, and additions to tax you owe to the Department. If this notice is not resolved, the Department will escalate collection efforts, which may include referrals to collection agencies or prosecuting attorneys.

Resolving Your Notice

Under Missouri law, you have a right to either pay your tax delinquency or dispute the amount owed. It is critical that you take one of the following actions upon receipt of an Assessment of Unpaid Withholding Tax:

• Pay the amount due.

If your business has signed up to use the MyTax Missouri portal service, you may pay your business taxes online using this link https:/mytax.mo.gov. By utilizing the MyTax Missouri portal, you will have access to manage your business tax account online. You will find Registration instructions and Frequently Asked Questions at https://mytax.mo.gov/.

• File a Protest with the Department of Revenue.If you do not agree that you owe the amounts shown on this Assessment of Unpaid Withholding Tax, you may file a protest with the Department. Under Section 143.631, RSMo, a protest is a written statement that explains in detail the reasons you do not owe the amounts shown on the Assessment of Unpaid Withholding Tax. You should include copies of any documents that you would like the department to consider when reviewing your protest (e.g., tax returns or payroll ledgers).

You must file a protest within 60 days (150 days if you live outside the United States) after the date this Assessment of Unpaid Withholding Tax was mailed or the date it was delivered, whichever date is earlier. Mail your protest to:

Missouri Department of Revenue
PO Box 3375
Jefferson City, MO 65105-3375

Informal Hearing: You may request an informal hearing with the Department to explain the reasons for your protest. Request an informal review at the address listed at the top of the notice.

Granting Your Protest: If the Department agrees with your protest, the Department will adjust the amount shown on the Notice of Deficiency and notify you of the decision in writing.

Denying Your Protest: If the Department does not agree with your protest, the Department will notify you of the Department’s decision in writing. Under Section 143.651, RSMo, you may then file an appeal of that decision with the Missouri Administrative Hearing Commission. The Department will provide details of how to appeal its decision in the notification.

Pay Under Protest. If you file a protest, you may also pay all or any part of the amounts due under protest. (Section 143.631,RSMo) By paying under protest, you stop the accrual of additional interest on the amounts paid. If you file a valid protest, but do not pay the balance due, the collection process will be suspended but the interest will continue to accrue.

To pay under protest, you must:

• Send a check or money order for the amount of the protest payment to the address listed on the Assessment of Unpaid Withholding Tax.
• Write on the front of the check or money order that it is a protest payment.
• Include with your payment and written protest a statement of the tax type, tax period(s), and the amount of tax, interest, penalties, and additions to tax to which the payment is to be applied.

Your payment under protest must be received by the Department of Revenue within 60 days (150 days if you live outside the United States) after the notice date shown on the Assessment of Unpaid Withholding Tax. 

If you do not respond with one of the above options within 60 days of the notice date:

• You will no longer have the legal right to appeal;
• All tax, interest, penalties, and additions to tax, if any, will be payable in full;
• A Certificate of Tax Lien may be filed with the Recorder of Deeds against any and all personal and real property owned by you. This will directly impact your credit rating and your ability to buy or sell real estate until your tax balance due is resolved;
• A Certificate of Tax Lien may also be filed with the Clerk of the Circuit Court. This will have the full force and effect of a default judgment; and
• If you also make retail sales, your sales tax license will be revoked and you will not be able to legally operate your business.

Understanding Your Notice

This notice outlines the amount you must pay the Department and is your last opportunity to resolve your account before the Department escalates collections. It is always the Department’s preference to resolve your account before escalating collections.

Resolving Your Notice

You may:

• Pay the amount due.

If your business has signed up to use the MyTax Missouri portal service, you may pay your business taxes online using this link https:/mytax.mo.gov. By utilizing the MyTax Missouri portal, you will have access to manage your business tax account online. You will find Registration instructions and Frequently Asked Questions at https://mytax.mo.gov/.

• Provide documentation: If you disagree with the adjustment, you may file an amended Form 941 and submit copies of your payroll ledgers to support the withholding for that period.

If you do not take action, the Department will:

• Issue a lien or administrative judgment;
• Begin the garnishment process; and
• Refer your account to a collection agency.

Understanding Your Notice

The Department and the IRS communicate with each other to ensure that neither agency is refunding withholding tax revenue to an employer while that employer owes tax to the other agency. This notice informs you that your federal income tax refund may be intercepted and applied to the Missouri debt.

Resolving Your Notice

To prevent an offset of your federal withholding tax overpayment, you may:

• Pay the amount due.

If your business has signed up to use the MyTax Missouri portal service, you may pay your business taxes online using this link https:/mytax.mo.gov. By utilizing the MyTax Missouri portal, you will have access to manage your business tax account online. You will find Registration instructions and Frequently Asked Questions at https://mytax.mo.gov/.

• Provide documentation: If you disagree with the adjustment, you may file an amended Form 941 and submit copies of your payroll ledgers to support the withholding for that period.

Understanding Your Notice

Because prior notices have not resolved your delinquency, Missouri statute calls upon the Department to escalate collections. As a result, the Department may file a lien in any case in which it issued an assessment of tax, interest, addition to tax or penalty imposed under Sections 143.005 to 143.998 RSMo, and that assessment has become final.

A Notice of Tax Lien:

• May be filed for record in the recorder's office of the county in which the person resides or owns property;
• Attaches to real or personal property or interest in real or personal property owned by the person or acquired by the person after the filing of the certificate of lien;
• May be filed with the circuit court and will have the effect of a default judgment. This allows the Department to collect on the judgment through garnishment, executions, and levies.
• Will have negative impact on your credit rating. A lien may be listed on your credit report. Credit bureaus monitor public records for liens. The Department does not report lien information directly to the credit bureau agencies. However, the tax lien and the cancellation of the lien are considered public information once filed with the recorder of deeds or the circuit court. The Department does not govern the credit bureau agency’s policy regarding the length of time or the accuracy of the information they keep on a credit bureau report; and
• Will prevent you from buying or selling real property (and potentially personal property, such as vehicles).

Resolving Your Notice

The Department may only issue a Certificate of Lien Release and Satisfaction if:

• The debt is paid in full; or
• You provide documentation showing you do not owe the debt.
  

Paying the Debt in Full: A taxpayer, power of attorney, financial institutions or title company may request for the amount needed to pay the lien off in full by reaching out to collections@dor.mo.gov to request a payoff that includes updated interest. A satisfaction will be issued within 45-60 days of the balance being resolved.

What about an Installment Agreement? If you cannot pay the balance off in full, you may set up a payment plan to take care of your debt with the Department. To request an installment agreement, access our website at http://dor.mo.gov/cacs/. A lien will not be released until the debt is paid in full.

Partial lien Release: There are situations where the Department’s lien may be released against one particular piece of property for less than full payment of the lien. The Department is not legally required to issue a partial lien release; however, some circumstances may be taken into consideration. You must complete the Partial Satisfaction and Discharge of Tax Lien (Form 5615) and send in along with a HUD I statement and the property description. Further documentation may be requested as needed. Based on the information submitted, the Department may require partial payment, full payment or no payment towards the tax lien to issue a partial release.

Understanding Your Notice

Unpaid taxes may be referred to a collection agency. In addition to recovering the tax debt, Missouri statutes allow a 100 percent civil penalty and criminal prosecution for willful attempts to evade the tax.

Resolving Your Account

If your business has signed up to use the MyTax Missouri portal service, you may pay your business taxes online using this link https:/mytax.mo.gov. By utilizing the MyTax Missouri portal, you will have access to manage your business tax account online. You will find Registration instructions and Frequently Asked Questions at https://mytax.mo.gov/.