ST. LOUIS — A judge has ruled that the city of St. Louis erred in denying an earnings tax refund to a St. Louis County man who said he worked remotely outside city limits during the pandemic.
Attorneys in another case are challenging the city's assertion, developed during the pandemic, that nonresidents working for city employers cannot get refunds for days worked remotely outside the jurisdiction. They said the new ruling, in small-claims court, represents the first time a judge has ruled that the city's position is wrong.
People living or working within the city's limits are required to pay a tax of 1% on their earnings, but, before the pandemic, the city long issued refunds for days worked outside its boundaries. Marc Kolaks, an employee of AT&T, saw that his employer was withholding money for the earnings tax through July 2020. Since he only worked 16 days in the city during the first quarter of 2020, he filed for an earnings tax refund, said an attorney familiar with the case, Mark Milton.
The city's collector of revenue, Gregg Daly, denied that refund.
Kolaks then paid an earnings tax bill for the rest of 2020 under protest, Milton said, but then sued the city in small-claims court, seeking the money back.
Judge Thomas McCarthy on May 4 ruled for Kolaks, ordering that he recover $1,565.
The city, though, has appealed, setting up a hearing Friday called Trial de Novo, before Associate Circuit Judge Michael Colona.
"This is a small claims case pending before the court, so it would be inappropriate to discuss this matter at this time," said a spokeswoman for Daly, Susan Ryan.
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