Mo. To Allow 2020 Withholding Relief In Response To Virus

Missouri will allow certain employers to withhold 2020 taxes from employees based on their usual primary work location, even if the employees were working remotely during the coronavirus pandemic, under a recently adopted rule released Tuesday.

In a notice, the state Department of Revenue said the new rule will be placed in the June 15 state register. Under an emergency rule that took effect Jan. 21 and the recently adopted rule, qualifying employers can choose to withhold taxes from March 13 through Dec. 31, 2020, based on the location of where an employee was regularly assigned to work before the pandemic.

The department previously said the rule was an effort to ease the burden put on employers to protect the health of their employees during the pandemic.

To obtain the withholding relief, an employer must submit an affidavit saying that it did not have a time and attendance system in place to record its employees' work locations during the relief period. The rules specify that the regulations don't affect the state and local income tax liabilities of any resident or nonresident.

--Additional reporting by Paul Williams. Editing by Neil Cohen.

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