“Gov. sends revenuers after more out-of-state firms”

Gov. sends revenuers after more out-of-state firms

Posted: 30 Aug 2010 10:24 PM PDT

Posted: Aug 30, 2010 11:09 PM

HELENA - Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer is looking at increasing the state's revenue by targeting out of state tax resources.

The Governor is asking the Montana Department of Revenue to look at collecting lodging taxes from online travel sites. Internet travel sites charge the customer a lodging tax when they book hotels online, but Gov. Schweitzer believs that in some cases, the companies are not paying the states their full share.

"The Department of Revenue is doing a great job under the leadership of Dan Bucks," said Schweitzer. "They are collecting taxes without raising taxes, and a large percentage of this is people from outside of Montana who have owed these taxes over the course of these last numbers of years, but in many cases had not been asked before," explained Schweitzer.

The Governor is also asking the Revenue Department to look at collecting income tax from mineral sales. Schweitzer says mineral rights are frequently sold and resold to out of state buyers.

The Governor says the sellers frequently make money off the sale, but don't report that profit to the state. While Schweitzer doesn't know how much his two ideas might bring in, he believes it could total millions of dollars.

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