Missouri behind pace in paying tax refunds

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri has been slower than usual in paying out tax refunds this year.

Figures provided to The Associated Press in response to a Sunshine Law request show the Department of Revenue had nearly 367,000 income tax refunds still pending May 12, nearly a month after the deadline to file tax returns.

That's almost three times as many as were still lingering in recent years. In 2013, the department had more than 125,000 tax refunds pending May 12. In 2012, the number of pending tax refunds on that date was a little less than 127,000.

The delay in paying refunds comes as Missouri's revenue has been falling short of projections.

Through the end of April, Missouri's net general revenue was up just 0.5 percent for the 2014 fiscal year.