Predecessor Agencies: State Board of Equalization, Liquor Control Board

Article XII of the 1889 Montana Constitution established the Montana State Board of Equalization. Under this article, the Board was composed of the Governor, the Secretary of State, the State Treasurer, the State Auditor, and the Attorney General. Their duties included adjusting and equalizing the valuation of taxable property in existing counties, to oversee county boards of equalization, and to perform other duties as assigned by law.

In 1923, a constitutional amendment reorganized the Board. The new State Board of Equalization consisted of three members appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate; members were appointed for terms of six years. The reorganized Board was responsible for additional duties, including annually assessing the property of all railroads, telegraph and telephone lines, and electrical lines; adjusting the valuation of county property; supervising the administration of state tax laws; investigating and holding hearings on all suspected cases of non-compliance with state revenue laws; and recommending legislation for the better administration of fiscal laws.

In 1933, the Twenty-third Legislative Assembly passed the Montana Liquor Control Act, which established the state liquor control system as one of the nation's seventeen "monopoly" states. Within its monopoly, the state of Montana operated liquor stores, licensed individual purchases and retailers, exercised regulatory powers, and merchandised alcoholic beverages. The sale of beer was administered by the State Board of Equalization, while state liquor stores were under the jurisdiction of a board composed of the Governor, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of State.

At the time of the enactment of the Liquor Control Act in 1933, only the sale of beer was permitted in Montana's taverns. In 1937, the passage of the Retail Liquor Act amended the 1933 legislation, permitting the sale of liquor-by-the-drink and packaged liquor by licensed taverns. Simultaneously, the administration of state liquor stores was transferred to the newly created Montana Liquor Control Board, which consisted of three members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. The first meeting of an appointive Liquor Control Board was held on April 5, 1937. The Liquor Control Board appointed an administrator who handled the day-today operation of the state liquor control system, but who was answerable to the board.

The Liquor Control Board employed a team of inspectors, also called examiners, who worked under a chief inspector and his assistants. The principal duty of the inspectors was to screen applicants for liquor licenses by making a thorough investigation of the applicant's eligibility under state regulations. The inspectors also made two or three annual, on-site inspections of the premises where beer and liquor licenses were in operation.

The Executive Reorganization Act of 1971 created the Montana Department of Revenue and abolished the Liquor Control Board and the State Board of Equalization. Duties of the Liquor Control Board were transferred to the newly created Liquor Control Division (now the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division) within the Department of Revenue. The duties of the Board of Equalization were transferred to both the Department of Revenue and the State Tax Appeal Board, which is administratively attached to the Department of Administration.

The Legal and Investigation Division was established in 1972. State publications for this time period alternate between listing this as one Division or as separate Divisions, i.e., Legal Division and Investigation Division. The Legal and Investigation Division oversaw the Investigation Bureau and Legal Bureau. The Investigation Bureau handled all the Department's compliance, investigatory, and enforcement needs. It consisted of three units: the General Revenue Investigation Unit, the Alcoholic Beverages Investigation Unit, and the Welfare Fraud Investigation Unit.

In 1975, the Investigation Bureau became the Investigation Division (later named the Investigations and Enforcement Division), consisting of five units: an Administrative Unit; a Welfare Fraud Unit; a Tax Fraud Bureau; an Alcoholic Beverage Control Bureau; and a Child Support Enforcement Bureau. In 1977, the duties of the Tax Fraud Bureau and the Child Support Enforcement Bureau were assigned to a new unit, named the General Investigation Bureau (locate unit) which was later called the Location and Collection Unit. By the early 1990s, the Investigations and Enforcement Division became the Office of Investigations, which operated within the Director’s Office. In the mid-1990s, the Office was Investigations was eliminated.

As of 2025, the Department of Revenue has seven Divisions: Director’s Office (which oversees the Legal Services Office), the Tax, Policy and Research Unit, and Human Resources, Business and Income Tax Division, Property Assessment Division, Alcoholic Beverage Control Division, Information Management and Collection Division, Technology Services Division, and Cannabis Control Division. To see a current list of staff and Divisions, please visit the Montana Department of Revenue directory.