Opinion ID: 2387176
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Sales Tax Refund

Text: The appellant nursing homes contend that under the plain and ordinary meaning of section 144.030.2(23), they are entitled to refunds of all taxes paid on domestic use of utility services for the entire year of 1994. The director argues that the 1994 amendment created a new tax exemption for utility purchases through a master or single meter for residential apartments and condominiums and permitted persons making such purchases on behalf of occupants of these premises the standing to seek refunds. Thus, the director contends, the amendment was substantive and cannot be applied retroactively. See e.g., Callahan v. Cardinal Glennon Hosp., 863 S.W.2d 852, 872 (Mo. banc 1993); In re Armistead, 362 Mo. 960, 245 S.W.2d 145, 151-152 (Mo.1952). In this case we need not reach the issue of whether the 1994 amendment is substantive or is merely procedural or remedial. The statute provides that a claimant for a sales tax refund must file its claim between the first month and the fifteenth day of the fourth month following the year of purchase. Section 144.030.2(23). The amendment took effect on August 28, 1994. The issue is whether taxpayers can get refunds for the whole of 1994 or just the portion of the year from August 28, 1994. The purpose of the 1994 amendment is to clarify the exemption for domestic use, not to restrict or prohibit the exemption for periods before August 28, 1994. Section 144.030.2(23) was amended after the Hyde Park Housing decision. The event that led to the Hyde Park Housing case was that the director assessed taxes on utilities purchased through a master meter on behalf of occupants of residential apartments. Hyde Park Housing, supra, at 83. This Court held that such purchases under a residential tariff were exempt from sales tax. Id. at 86. The Court stated that the purpose of the exemption is to ease the burden of costs on residential users. Id. at 84. The Court did not specifically address the issue of residential apartments that did not purchase under a residential tariff but it did state that the manner of use will be important when utility services are purchased for domestic use but are not purchased under a residential tariff. Id. at 85. The 1994 amendment basically provided a mechanism for avoiding assessments of sales tax paid on utilities purchased for domestic use by residential apartments and condominiums. The nursing homes here arguably are substantively entitled to a sales tax refund, under a reading of the pre-1994 statute as set forth in the Hyde Park Housing decision. Under the 1994 amendment, the sales tax refund should apply to the entire year of 1994. We affirm the commission's decision applying the sales tax exemption to the McKnight Place Partnership from August 28, 1994, through December 31, 1994, but reverse its decision in denying the exemption for the entire year of 1994. [3] We reverse the commission's decision denying the other nursing home operators a sales tax exemption on the portion of the utilities that their residents used for domestic purposes, and we remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. All concur.