Apparently a number of residents of Columbia, Missouri failed to note they were Columbia residents when they registered their vehicles between November 2008 and the end of 2011. That failure to identify themselves as Columbia residents prevented the Columbia sales tax from being collected.
In a recent audit, the city discovered the oversight on the taxpayers' part and “…will inform those individuals who bought vehicles from November 2008 to 2011 to pay up if they did not pay the sales tax.” Payment will be treated “…as part of our normal monthly sales tax collections,” says Columbia Finance Director John Blattel.
The outstanding debts total almost $150,000. The city’s 2012 fiscal year budget from motor vehicle sales tax collections is $470,000, but it has received only $370,000. Columbia city has a 2% city sales tax, whereas the county rate is 1.13%.
To prevent future vehicle sales tax oversights, the "...state licensing offices have begun to use geospatial information systems to verify addresses."
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