City cracking down unpaid earnings taxes

city-hallThe city is getting ready to crack down on people who don’t pay their earnings tax.

The city requires anyone who lives or works in Kansas City to file and pay earnings tax.

In the past year, it has gone to a new system that has resulted in the collection of more than $925,000 from 2800 delinquent taxpayers. That system looks at Internal Revenue Service data and matches it with local taxpayer information.

“The City is poised to track down thousands of individuals and businesses who owe back taxes,” said Commissioner of Revenue Mari Ruck. “The computer records from the IRS allow the city to compare city tax records with what is reported to the IRS. The IRS has more complete return information and fewer tax evaders.”

The city says it will first check on residents who work for employers located outside the city who fail to withhold the earnings tax. The city doesn’t require those employers to withhold the tax, and it finds that sometimes workers do not voluntarily pay the tax.

To handle the increased volume of cases, the city has hired one new municipal revenue agent and has plans on hiring two additional staff.

 

One Comment

  1. Alana says:

    Interesting. My husband and I always pay it because our jobs are in KC and they take the $ out for us, but we never bother to ‘file’ I wonder if they will come after us and fine us just for not doing one more piece of paperwork. I wonder also how this stepped up enforcement will effect the renew of the tax (2016, right?)

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