We are Bevis Schock and Mark Milton, attorneys at law. We have filed a class action lawsuit in the City of St. Louis (Boles v. City of St. Louis, 2122-CC00713) to try to get non-city residents their earnings tax refunds for teleworking days. The purpose of this website is to create a roadmap for people to file the necessary papers to seek their refunds for teleworking days. There are some tricky legal issues involved, but this roadmap lays out what we think this is the best approach under the circumstances. We offer no guarantees.

One thing is for sure: If you don’t submit forms protesting and demanding a refund, you won’t get a refund.

As authorized by state and local laws, the City of St. Louis collects a 1% earnings tax on nonresidents for “work performed” or “services rendered” in the City.

Employers based in or with offices located in the City are required to withhold this 1% tax from their employees’ pay throughout the year.

Before the pandemic, if a nonresident (that is, someone who lives in St. Louis County, the Metro East, or St. Charles County, or anywhere else outside the City of St. Louis) worked some of days of the year outside the City, whether the employee was (1) teleworking from home, or (2) traveling for a business purpose, such as a member of the Cardinals going to New York to play the Mets, the employee could apply for a refund for an amount based on the proportion of days worked outside the City. The City would pay the refunds, generally without squabble.

(People who live in the City owe the earnings tax regardless of where they work. If you live in the City, this case does not relate to you).

Now, for tax year 2020, the City has changed its policy and its forms to only allow refund claims for days spent “traveling” for a business purpose, and to not allow refunds for days spent teleworking or otherwise working from locations outside the City.

The City presumably will still issue refunds for “travel days” and those may be sought using the 2020 Form E-1R and Form E-1RV, available on the Collector’s website.

IN SHORT, WITHOUT ANY CHANGE TO THE AUTHORIZING STATE STATUTE AND/OR THE EARNINGS TAX ORDINANCE, THE CITY NOW REFUSES TO ISSUE REFUNDS FOR DAYS SPENT WORKING FROM LOCATIONS OUTSIDE THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS, THAT IS, TELEWORKING – EVEN THOUGH THE WORK WAS PERFORMED OR THE SERVICES WERE RENDERED OUTSIDE THE CITY.

We are suing both the City of St. Louis and the City’s elected tax Collector of Revenue, Gregory F.X. Daly. We believe the Collector and City’s conduct violates the unambiguous language of the state statute, the City’s earnings tax ordinance, and the “Hancock Amendment” to the Missouri Constitution, which prevents the City from increasing the tax base, such as by taxing income that had previously been not taxed, without a vote of the people.

One bit of good news in the case is that under long-established precedent, any ambiguity which might happen to exist in the state statute and/or the City’s tax ordinance must be interpreted in favor of the taxpayer!

One piece of bad news in the case is that the City and The Collector take the position that under Missouri law each person must file a separate individual lawsuit and that class actions are not allowed. That, of course, would be unworkable in this situation where there are tens of thousands of claimants and most are seeking less that $1,000.00. We thus seek to make the case a class action. Such are the vagaries of “FIGHTING CITY HALL.” (If you want to file your own suit you may do so, of course).

Let us now turn to what you need to do. A central issue in the case is whether a person demanding a refund of earnings tax withholding for teleworking days is required to file a “PROTEST” in connection with the demand for a refund.

In a recent court hearing the Collector’s lawyer told the judge that he believes taxpayers have to submit a PROTEST, but that submission of a demand for the disputed days would be such a protest.

We have decided to try to turn this statement to the taxpayers’ advantage, and thus have everyone who is entitled to a refund for teleworking days submit a PROTEST.

(DISCLAIMER: following these recommendations guarantees nothing).

The instructions on the City’s current forms state those forms are only to be used to seek refunds for days spent traveling on business. As such, we have created a separate PROTEST form to seek a refund for your teleworking days (days worked outside the City of St. Louis, not including travel days).

On the PROTEST form, your employer will have to certify the number of days you teleworked from locations outside the City, not including travel days.

If you have already submitted a refund claim using the Collector’s current forms including travel and teleworking days, you should consider submitting the Protest Form specifying the number of days you spent teleworking from a location outside the City.

LIST OF RECOMMENDED ACTIONS

1. CLICK below to download the PROTEST form.
2. Fill out both pages of the form, including the employer certification on page two. The computer will self populate several of the lines.
3. PRINT the completed PROTEST form.
4. Sign the first page yourself, and have your employer sign the second page.
5. Submit all completed forms to the Collector of Revenue by one of the following methods:
Email: earningstaxcor@stlouis-mo.gov
Regular Mail:
Collector Gregory F.X. Daly
City Hall
1200 Market St. Room 410
St. Louis MO 63103
Fax:
314-622-4847
6. Keep a complete signed copy of what you submit.

Due to the potential volume of people seeking refunds and using this website, we will not respond to requests for any additional guidance or questions regarding how to pursue your refund claims. At this time, our formal representation is limited to the plaintiffs named in the lawsuit. Please consult your own legal and/or tax advisor with any questions.

The Attorneys

Bevis Schock

Attorney At Law

Mark Milton

Attorney At Law

Bevis Schock & Mark Milton have teamed up to defend Missouri citizens against government overreach. Due to budgetary restraints, state and local governments have become much more aggressive with tax assessment and collection efforts. The Attorneys have extensive experience representing clients before state and local taxing authorities and defending against and challenging Government agencies

The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely on advertisements.