Skip to content
Kintsugi
Book a DemoSign Up

Kintsugi Notice Hub

Missouri sales tax notices

Got a letter from the Missouri Department of Revenue? Find it below to see what it means, why businesses usually receive it, and what to do next.

Sources checked

Tax authority

Missouri Department of Revenue (opens in a new tab)

Official notice guide (opens in a new tab)

Disagree with a notice?

For an Assessment of Unpaid Sales/Use Tax, you can request an informal hearing with the Department (this does not extend the appeal deadline). You can also file a petition with the Administrative Hearing Commission, or pay under protest by filing a Protest Payment Affidavit (Form 163 or 163B), which stops interest on the amount paid. The affidavit is due within 30 days of making the protest payment.

Deadline: Administrative Hearing Commission petition: within 60 days of the date the assessment was mailed or delivered, whichever is earlier

Source: Missouri Department of Revenue (opens in a new tab)

Failure to file

The authority has no return on record for a period it expects one, often because an account is open but filings stopped.

Failure to file

Non-Filer Notice

Tells a sales or use tax filer that a required return has not been received and must be filed and paid to avoid further collection action.

Why you got it

  • A sales or use tax return was not filed for a registered period, including zero-tax periods

What to do

  1. Check your records to confirm the return for that period was not already filed
  2. File the return on MyTax Missouri (mytax.mo.gov) and pay the tax. File a zero return if there is nothing to report
  3. Late returns carry interest and additions to tax. If the late filing was due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect, you can ask the Department to remove the additions to tax
  4. Acting now avoids a notice of deficiency, possible license revocation and further collection action

Before you pay penalties: check whether you can ask for them to be waived, and what the state needs paid first. How to ask

Source: Sales and Use Tax Collection Procedures (opens in a new tab)

Balance due

A bill for tax, penalty, or interest the authority says is unpaid.

Balance due

Balance Due Notice

Sent when the Department received a correctly completed return showing a balance due but did not receive full payment.

Why you got it

  • A return was filed without full payment

What to do

  1. Check the notice against the return and your payment records
  2. Pay the tax balance through MyTax Missouri, by card or e-check, or by check or money order with the notice stub. Paying before the due date on the notice avoids more additions to tax and interest
  3. If you cannot pay in full, apply for an online installment agreement
  4. If the late payment was due to reasonable cause, you can ask the Department to remove the additions to tax

Before you pay penalties: check whether you can ask for them to be waived, and what the state needs paid first. How to ask

Source: Sales and Use Tax Collection Procedures (opens in a new tab)

Balance due

Adjustment Notice

The first notice on a sales or use tax debt. It explains changes the Department made to your return and how it believes the return should be calculated.

Why you got it

  • Wrong tax rate or jurisdiction code for a location
  • Math errors, negative sales, missing pages, or duplicate lines for one location
  • A late postmark on a paper return

What to do

  1. Compare the changes with your return, and check your rates and location codes with the GIS tool on mytax.mo.gov
  2. If you disagree, file an amended Form 53-1 showing the correct figures for the period
  3. If you agree, pay the tax due. If additions to tax were added for a late return and you had reasonable cause, you can ask the Department to remove them

Before you pay penalties: check whether you can ask for them to be waived, and what the state needs paid first. How to ask

Source: Sales and Use Tax Collection Procedures (opens in a new tab)

Assessment

A proposed or final determination of tax owed, sometimes estimated when returns were never filed.

Assessment

Assessment of Unpaid Sales/Use Tax

A statutory notice assessing tax, interest, and additions to tax. It is issued when an Adjustment Notice, Non-Filer Notice, or Balance Due Notice was not resolved.

Why you got it

  • An earlier non-filer, balance due, or adjustment notice was not resolved

What to do

  1. Check the assessment against your records and any returns you filed
  2. If you disagree, petition the Administrative Hearing Commission within 60 days, or pay under protest with Form 163 or 163B. You can also request an informal hearing, but it does not extend the 60-day deadline
  3. Otherwise, pay the tax or set up an installment agreement. If the late filing or payment was due to reasonable cause, you can ask the Department to remove the additions to tax
  4. If you do not respond within 60 days, you lose your appeal rights, a Certificate of Tax Lien may be filed, and your sales tax license will be revoked

Before you pay penalties: check whether you can ask for them to be waived, and what the state needs paid first. How to ask

Response window: 60 days from the notice date

Source: Sales and Use Tax Collection Procedures (opens in a new tab)

Registration

Changes to your permit or account: required registration, filing-frequency changes, revocation, or closure.

Registration

Notice of 10 Day Demand

A warning that your Missouri sales tax license will be revoked in 10 days because of unpaid sales tax. Revocation also voids your local business license and covers every retail business you own.

Why you got it

  • Unpaid sales tax after earlier notices

What to do

  1. Pay the debt in full or set up an installment agreement
  2. If you disagree with the adjustment, file an amended Form 53-1 with the correct figures
  3. If you do nothing, the Department may file a lien or administrative judgment, start garnishment, and refer the account to a collection agency

Response window: 10 days before the sales tax license is revoked

Source: Sales and Use Tax Collection Procedures (opens in a new tab)

Registration

Revocation of Sales Tax License

Official notice that your sales tax license has been revoked. You must stop making retail sales right away, and operating anyway can bring penalties of up to $500 for the first day and $100 per day after that, up to $10,000.

Why you got it

  • Unpaid sales tax or unfiled returns not resolved after the 10 Day Demand

What to do

  1. Stop retail sales and contact the Department
  2. File all returns and pay every delinquency for every business you own, or set up an installment agreement (a 25% down payment will be requested)
  3. Submit a Missouri Tax Registration Application (Form 2643A)
  4. Get a Statement of No Tax Due to give to your city, county, and state agencies to have local licenses reinstated

Source: Sales and Use Tax Collection Procedures (opens in a new tab)

Ask for penalty relief

Penalties on a Missouri notice aren't always final. You can ask for them to be waived. Follow the steps below, including anything the state requires you to file or pay before it reviews the request.

Waiver of additions to tax for reasonable cause

  1. File any missing returns and pay the tax, or set up an installment agreement, to stop more additions to tax and interest from building up
  2. Ask the Department to remove the additions to tax, explaining why the late filing or payment was due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect
  3. If you are disputing an Assessment of Unpaid Sales/Use Tax, also keep the 60-day Administrative Hearing Commission deadline in mind

What qualifies: Reasonable cause and not the result of willful neglect, evasion or fraudulent intent

Source: RSMo Section 144.250, Missouri Revisor of Statutes (opens in a new tab)

Before you respond

  • Check the date on the notice. Response windows usually run from that date, not the day you open it.
  • Match the account number and filing period to your own records before paying or disputing.
  • If returns are missing, filing the actual returns usually replaces an estimated bill. Confirm how on the notice or with the authority.
  • Ask about penalty relief before paying penalties, and check what must be paid with the request. See how
  • Keep a copy of the notice and everything you send back.

This page is general information, not tax or legal advice. Notice names and procedures change, so always follow the instructions on your notice and the official sources linked above.

Need the rates, nexus thresholds and filing rules? Read the Missouri sales tax guide.

See how Kintsugi collects every tax notice in one place.

More notice guides

Free exposure assessment, no commitment.

See what sales tax is really costing you

Book a demoGet started for free

30-minute walkthrough · No credit card required · See your own data live