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Families earning less than $60,000 hit by state's tax mix-up

Families earning $60,000 or less are experiencing the greatest impact from state officials’ confusion over how to calculate income tax withholdings.

Joel Walters, director of the state Department of Revenue, said during Wednesday’s hearing that based on almost 1 million returns that the department has processed, “the average refund is down about $78, and the average tax due is up about $65.”

Returns claiming a tax refund have gone down by around 68,000 compared to the amount last year, Walters said.

The department issued new tax tables in March 2018 that would, upon adoption, reduce the amount of money withheld from an employee’s paycheck. The change echoed the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed by President Donald Trump in 2017, which doubled the federal income tax deduction.

On top of the new tax law, the state discovered in September that a drop in state general revenue, which was faster than usual, might be in part due to a 15-year-old tax miscalculation that had been exacerbated by the new federal tax rules. This means Missourians may find themselves getting a smaller refund than usual or even unexpectedly owing money when they file their taxes.

To read more on this story, visit our partners at the Columbia Missourian.