(The Center Square) – The biggest complaint from Rep. Mike O’Donnell’s constituents – even his spouse – is drivers with expired temporary Missouri automobile license tags.
“My constituents told me about this time after time,” O’Donnell, a Republican from St. Louis County, said in an interview with The Center Square. “My wife will come home and yell out a date and it’s the expired tags she saw on her way home from shopping.”
O’Donnell decided to file a bill to change the system and it was part of a larger Senate bill signed into law in June. Automobile dealerships will be required to collect the sales tax at the time of sale of a car or truck. However, the law is contingent on the launch of a new computer system being developed by Missouri’s Department of Revenue.
“Getting the appropriation for that system was a much bigger lift than this,” O’Donnell said.
Missouri is currently one of a few states where vehicle purchasers must pay the state sales tax at a Department of Revenue to receive new license plates. Automobile dealers can issue a temporary license plate tag for up to 30 days and for 60 to 90 days under certain conditions.
The current system allows people to drive with expired tags as law enforcement and others couldn’t tell if the tag was current unless they were close to the vehicle.
O’Donnell said he contacted the automobile dealers and told them he was proposing his legislation.
“To my shock, their response was they have been looking for this and working for this for the past five years or so,” O’Donnell said.
There wasn’t any opposition in the House and the bill was added to Senate Bill 398, which also prohibits texting while driving.
“The point I made in a committee hearing was if you buy a pen at the office supply store, you don’t go to the Department of Revenue to pay the sales tax,” O’Donnell said. “The fact that we’re one of the last states to do this is a little embarrassing.”
O’Donnell said many constituents were aggravated when someone driving an expensive automobile didn’t pay the sales tax, but he became aware of others who couldn’t afford to pay the sales tax on an inexpensive car but will be able to roll the sales tax into the car loan.
“You see a Cadillac and its tag is 16 months old and you’re mad because if anybody should be able to pay their sales tax, it’s that guy,” O’Donnell said. “But there are people who have a tough time coming up with the big lump sum. They buy a vehicle with no money down and can afford the payments. But some of those folks will never have a couple of grand in their accounts to write that check for the sales tax.”
Like other Missouri businesses, automobile dealerships will be allowed to keep 2% of sales taxes collected if they remit the amount on time to the Department of Revenue.
