Section 21 ?Voluntary? Payment of Taxes

• Library: Tax Law 2009

The matter of whether the payment of taxes was voluntary or involuntary may determine the taxpayer’s right to recover. The definition of a voluntary payment may not be as apparent as it seems. Payment of a tax under the mistaken belief that an ordinance is valid when, in fact, it is not, is nevertheless regarded as a voluntary payment. Mfr’s. Cas. Ins. Co. v. Kansas City, 330 S.W.2d 263 (Mo. App. W.D. 1959); see also Couch v. Kansas City, 30 S.W. 117 (Mo. 1895). And while it was previously held that taxes voluntarily paid under an unconstitutional ordinance without compulsion could be recovered by the taxpayer, State ex rel. S.S. Kresge Co. v. Howard, 208 S.W.2d 247 (Mo. banc 1947), more recent cases have questioned the vitality of Kresge in light of intervening statutory...