Missouri Cracks Down on Negligent and Thieving Businesses
- Oct 3, 2013 | Gail Cole
In states with a sales tax, businesses collect sales tax from customers and then remit it to the state. The tax simply passes through businesses, never belonging to them. Yet sometimes, sales tax dollars end up in the pockets of business owners rather than state coffers. This can be due to error or oversight, or deliberate thievery.
The Department of Revenue has recently made it simple for Missourians to learn which businesses have had their licenses revoked for "failure to remit sales tax collected from its customers to the Department of Revenue." Likewise, one can learn which businesses have had licenses revoked for "failure to remit income taxes withheld on behalf of its employees to the Department of Revenue."
Curious? Just visit the Who Is Not Paying page of the department's website and enter a county, city, business name or Missouri Tax ID Number (Sales Tax License Number). Enter a Tax ID Number or business name to learn about that specific business. Enter a county or city name to discover all the businesses in those locations with revoked licenses.
A little public humiliation can go a long way. Would you voluntarily do business with someone who has trouble keeping their books straight (or a thief) if it could be avoided?
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