Property Tax nightmare... vets beware! (Long Post)

[aldaron327]

First, some quick background:

For those that don't know me (and I don't post unless I think it's super important, have a question, or add something even remotely helpful... thus the ridiculously low post-count), I'm a former Army Warrant Officer. I was an AH-64D Pilot and did some time in the middle east. I got out on disability in 2010 for my back, which got screwed up in 2001. I did a little over 9 years, and it's only due to my tenacity (stubborness) that I made it that far.

Anywho,

My folks moved from NC to MO about halfway through my first tour overseas, so I changed my Home of Record to their address in Missouri. This meant that I was paying state income tax to Missouri and not much else since I was overseas and didn't really have a state to call home. I returned stateside in late 2006 (December) and bought a new 2007 Trailblazer SS right after Christmas, but given the fact that I was on leave, I didn't have an address in Kansas where I was being stationed, so I used my parents' address and registered my new vehicle in Missouri. I bought 2 year tags and paid the applicable taxes in Missouri and thought nothing of it since I deployed to Iraq in September of 2007. When I returned to Kansas (Ft. Riley) in November 2008, I registered my Trailblazer in KS at my new address and life was good. In 2009, I had to pay Missouri property tax on my Trailblazer, even though it wasn't registered in-state because Missouri was still my Home of Record and then I traded my Trailblazer in on my Silverado, but didn't register it in Missouri and even paid sales tax in Kansas on it.

In 2010, I received a property tax bill on my Trailblazer and called St. Louis County Revenue's office to dispute the charges since I no longer owned the vehicle. When I spoke with the tax assessor, she told me that the 2009 bill would be the last year that I was liable for any tax debts since I was getting out of the Army (medboard).

I received a bill for property tax on my 2007 Trailblazer (which I hadn't owned since 2009) in late February (2011) and immediately called the tax office and explained my situation. I was told that if I provided evidence that the vehicle was traded in, etc., that my account would be closed and my tax debt would be waived. I sent the appropriate documents via certified mail and it took 3 weeks to receive a response. The response was a bill for my 2009 Silverado that was never registered in Missouri and that I paid both Sales AND Property tax on in the state of Kansas. I didn't see the bill for a week because I was away on business but I called today about it and was told that the Soldier's and Sailor's Act didn't excuse me from my debt to Missouri for my truck.

After a lengthy conversation today (and me reading the WHOLE soldier's and sailor's act), I found out that I'm indeed liable to the state of Missouri for property tax because it was my Home of Record until I was discharged from the Army in July of 2010. According to the act, because my H.O.R. was Missouri on January 1st of 2010, I'm liable for the whole year, even though I'd already registered my truck in KS and paid property tax on it and even gotten a DL in KS.

Here's the bottom line for any of you guys that are thinking about getting out: If you're going to stay in the State where you are stationed and know this in advance (I was still looking for a job when I was getting out) but that State isn't the State where you pay taxes on your LES, change it IMMEDIATELY. Get a DL in that State and register to vote in that State. Get all your ducks in a row so that you don't have to pay property tax to two different States for one vehicle....

So the tax lady in MO tells me that I can either pay the bill or not. She says that they don't prosecute and that it won't affect my credit. I laughed at her. See, here's the thing: I'm not like 90% of the people in our country that don't see to their obligations. If I'm legally obliged to pay taxes, I pay them. In this case, I told her that I'm not sending them a cent without a certified and notarized letter from their office stating that they acknowledge that I'm no longer a citizen of Missouri and that I don't owe them a dime for 2011 and beyond. She agreed, so now I'm waiting. The sucky part is, if my S1 shop had processed my request in December of 2009 like I had requested, this wouldn't even be an issue. Unfortunately, my change of H.O.R. didn't take effect until I was out-processing... I guess I should have followed through on that one.....