Montana

State Home Page

Montana Online

Governor's Home Page

Marc Racicot

Department of Revenue

Mick Robinson, Director
Montana Department of Revenue
Sam Mitchell Building
125 North Roberts
P.O Box 202701
Helena MT 59620-2701

The Montana Department of Revenue web site includes general tax information, answers to frequently asked questions, and the text of the state's Taxpayers' Bill of Rights.

Refunds: Montana taxpayers may determine the status of a refund request by calling the state's automated phone number at (406) 444-9840. Taxpayers will be requested to provide their primary social security number and the amount of the refund requested.

Tax Forms: 1997 and 1996 tax forms are available from the Department's web site.

Most Montana state tax forms are available from local libraries, post offices and banks. In addition, taxpayers may call the Montana forms request line at (406) 444-0290. Taxpayers will be requested to specify the forms needed, their name, address and phone number.

Electronic filing: Montana allows returns to be filed electronically, provided the filer a a resident and not a first time filer. Nonresidents are not allowed to file electronic returns. For additional information on electronic filing, call (406) 444-1944.

Tax help: Assistance on specific taxes can be obtained by calling the following numbers:

Legislation

The Montana state legislature meets every two years. It's web site includes:

• 1997 Bills (which are searchable by subject index or by keyword);
• Hearing Schedules (Committee Hearings schedules for the next two weeks);
• Cumulative Bill Status (the status of all bills and resolutions in a report format);
• Cumulative Bill Draft Request Report (listing of all bills requested for drafting by legislators, with short titles and other information);
• Budget Analysis (the 1999 Biennium Budget Analysis by the Legislative Fiscal Division, Legislative Branch.

Bill text is available for downloading from the State of Montana BBS along with a great deal of other legislative session documents including daily status summaries, journals, and committee hearing schedules. To access the State BBS, dial (in state) 1-800-962-1729, or 1-406-444-5648 (local or out-of-state callers).

With respect to Internet access, ftp access to files on the BBS through the World Wide Web is available. This allows Internet users to view bills and download bill text and the text of other files. The files in the ftp site are updated at approximately 6:30 am, 12:30 pm, 6:30 pm and 12:30 am each day.

All bill files for downloading are stored in WordPerfect 5.1 format. A detailed document discussing bill formats is stored on the BBS. Users should be aware that line and page numbers are highly printer specific and probably cannot be reproduced accurately.

Newsletter: The Interim, a monthly newsletter intended for Legislators and persons interested in the activities of various standing committees and interim study subcommittees while the Legislature is not in session, is available from the Legislature's web site.

Legislative hotline: In addition to information available online, a telephone information service is available. To access this service, call (406) 444-4800.

1997 legislative changes: A summary of tax related legislation that was enacted during the 1997 legislative session is on the Department of Revenue's web site.

Judicial Information

The Montana Supreme Court web site includes the text of opinions from January 1997 until the present.

Statutes

Montana State Statutes are available from the Legislature's web site. The text of the Montana Administrative Code is also available.