Montana Department of Revenue

As the coronavirus pandemic took hold this spring, the federal government postponed the traditional April 15 income tax filing deadline until Wednesday, July 15. The Montana filing deadline falls on the same day.

The Montana Supreme Court discriminated against religious schools when it invalidated a tax credit program that supported school choice, according to a ruling handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments both for and against the Montana Supreme Court’s decision to shut down a school choice program it said violated the state constitution’s ban on public money flowing to religious schools. The case may decide whether Montana and other states can exclude religious schools from school choice programs.

A tax cut on social security income passed by both the state House and Senate is moving forward. The House Appropriations Committee voted Thursday to include the tax cut in the state budget. 

The priority bill for Senate Republican leadership would create significant changes in the amount of social security income that’s exempted when filing Montana tax returns.

A 2.5 percent sales tax and the elimination of certain property taxes is under consideration by the Montana Legislature.

It’s a proposal that could swing the source of billions of dollars in state revenue; create new regional commissions to recommend how public dollars are spent; and shift the burden of taxes across Montana.

Montana may join 15 other states in making it more difficult to pass new or increased taxes.

A simple majority of the state Legislature can currently approve new taxes or fees. But House Bill 148 introduced Tuesday would raise that threshold to a two-thirds supermajority.

The Montana Supreme Court Wednesday struck down a 2015 state law allowing tax credits for donations to private religious schools.

The court’s 5-2 ruling voids the dollar-for-dollar tax credit, up to $150, which passed, largely along party lines, out of the 2015 Montana Legislature.

A United States Supreme Court ruling issued Thursday means Montana businesses may have to start collecting a sales tax when they sell their products online.

The order from the Supreme Court strikes down previous rules that said states could not collect sales tax from a business if that business did not have a physical presence in the state.