Effective 28 Aug 2015

143.801. Limitations on credit or refund. — 1. A claim for credit or refund of an overpayment of any tax imposed by sections 143.011 to 143.996 shall be filed by the taxpayer within three years from the time the return was filed or two years from the time the tax was paid, whichever of such periods expires the later; or if no return was filed by the taxpayer, within two years from the time the tax was paid. No credit or refund shall be allowed or made after the expiration of the period of limitation prescribed in this subsection for the filing of a claim for credit or refund, unless a claim for credit or refund is filed by the taxpayer within such period.

2. If the claim is filed by the taxpayer during the three-year period prescribed in subsection 1 of this section, the amount of the credit or refund shall not exceed the portion of the tax paid within the three years immediately preceding the filing of the claim plus the period of any extension of time for filing the return. If the claim is not filed within such three-year period, but is filed within the two-year period, the amount of the credit or refund shall not exceed the portion of the tax paid during the two years immediately preceding the filing of the claim. If no claim is filed, the credit or refund shall not exceed the amount which would be allowable under either of the preceding sentences, as the case may be, if a claim was filed on the date the credit or refund is allowed.

3. If pursuant to subsection 6 of section 143.711 an agreement for an extension of the period for assessment of income taxes is made within the period prescribed in subsection 1 of this section for the filing of a claim for credit or refund, the period for filing a claim for credit or for making a credit or refund if no claim is filed, shall not expire prior to six months after the expiration of the period within which an assessment may be made pursuant to the agreement or any extension thereof. The amount of such credit or refund shall not exceed the portion of the tax paid after the execution of the agreement and before the filing of the claim or the making of the credit or refund, as the case may be, plus the portion of the tax paid within the period which would be applicable under subsection 1 of this section if a claim had been filed on the date the agreement was executed.

4. If a taxpayer is required by section 143.601 to report a change or correction in federal taxable income reported on his federal income tax return, or to report a change or correction which is treated in the same manner as if it were an overpayment for federal income tax purposes, an amended return or a claim for credit or refund of any resulting overpayment of tax shall be filed by the taxpayer within one year from the time the notice of such change or correction or such amended return was required to be filed with the director of revenue. If the report or amended return required by section 143.601 is not filed within the ninety-day period therein specified, interest on any resulting refund or credit shall cease to accrue after such ninetieth day. The amount of such credit or refund shall not exceed the amount of the reduction in tax attributable to:

(1) The issues on which such federal change or correction or the items amended on the taxpayer's amended federal income tax return are based, and

(2) Any change in the amount of the taxpayer's federal income tax deduction under the provisions of subsection 1 of section 143.171. No effect shall be given in the preceding sentence to any federal change or correction or to any item on an amended return unless it is timely under the applicable federal period of limitations.

­­The time and amount provisions of this subsection shall be in lieu of any other provisions of this section. This subsection shall not affect the time within which or the amount for which a claim for credit or refund may be filed apart from this subsection.

5. If the claim for credit or refund relates to an overpayment of tax on account of the deductibility by the taxpayer of a debt as a debt which became worthless or a loss from worthlessness of a security or the effect that the deductibility of a debt or of a loss has on the application to the taxpayer of a carryover, the claim may be made, under regulations prescribed by the director of revenue within seven years from the date prescribed by law for filing the return for the year with respect to which the claim is made.

6. If the claim for credit or refund relates to an overpayment attributable to a net operating loss carryback or a capital loss carryback, in lieu of the three-year period of limitations prescribed in subsection 1 of this section, the period shall be that period which ends with the expiration of the fifteenth day of the fortieth month (or the thirty-ninth month, in the case of a corporation) following the end of the taxable year of the net operating loss or net capital loss which results in such carryback, or the period prescribed in subsection 3 of this section in respect of such taxable year, whichever expires later. In the case of such a claim, the amount of the credit or refund may exceed the portion of the tax paid within the period provided in subsections 2, 3 and 4 of this section, whichever is applicable, to the extent of the amount of the overpayment attributable to such carryback.

7. (1) No period of limitations provided in subsections 1 to 6 of this section shall apply if a taxpayer amends, or the federal Internal Revenue Service or its successor agency changes, the taxpayer's federal income tax return for the same tax period and:

(a) Such amendment or change occurs after any period of limitations provided in subsections 1 to 6 of this section has expired;

(b) Such amendment or change reveals that the taxpayer is eligible to claim a credit or refund of an overpayment of any tax imposed under this chapter; and

(c) A period of limitations provided in subsections 1 to 6 of this section prohibits the taxpayer from claiming such credit or refund.

(2) If the taxpayer files a claim for such credit or refund, the claim shall be filed in the manner provided in this chapter and shall be filed within one year from the time the taxpayer amends or the federal Internal Revenue Service changes the taxpayer's federal income tax return.

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(L. 1972 S.B. 549, A.L. 2015 H.B. 517 & 754)

(1989) Missouri's income tax scheme violates principles of intergovernmental tax immunity. Taxpayers who paid state income tax for federal military retirement benefits are entitled to a refund to the extent that such refund is permitted by this section. (Mo banc) Hackman v. Director of Revenue, 771 S.W.2d 77.

(1989) Date taxes are due starts the running of the limitation period for a claim for refund, even though the return may have been received earlier by the Department of Revenue. Claim for refund was not barred by the three-year limitation period when tax was due April 15, 1986, but received by the Department of Revenue on April 4, 1986, and claim for refund was filed April 14, 1989. (Mo. banc) Hamacher v. Director of Revenue 779 S.W.2d 565.