Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

Missouri

Missouri: Who Pays? 6th Edition

• By ITEP Staff

MISSOURI Read as PDF MISSOURI STATE AND LOCAL TAXES Taxes as Share of Family Income Top 20% Income Group Lowest 20% Second 20% Middle 20% Fourth 20% Next 15% Next 4% Top 1% Income Range Less than $17,800 $17,800 to $34,100 $34,100 to $55,200 $55,200 to $93,100 $93,100 to $187,300 $187,300 to $447,300 over $447,300 […]

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ITEP Comments and Recommendations on Proposed Section 170 Regulation (REG-112176-18)

• By Carl Davis

The IRS recently proposed a commonsense improvement to the federal charitable deduction. If finalized, the regulation would prevent not just the newest workarounds to the $10,000 deduction for state and local taxes (SALT), but also a longer-running tax shelter abused by wealthy donors to private K-12 school voucher programs. ITEP has submitted official comments outlining four key recommendations related to the proposed regulation.

Tax Cuts 2.0 – Missouri

• By ITEP Staff

The $2 trillion 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) includes several provisions set to expire at the end of 2025. Now, GOP leaders have introduced a bill informally called “Tax Cuts 2.0” or “Tax Reform 2.0,” which would make the temporary provisions permanent. And they falsely claim that making these provisions permanent will benefit […]

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State Rundown 9/19: Don’t Call it a Comeback

• By ITEP Staff

The Rundown is back after a few-week hiatus, with lots of state fiscal news and quality research to share! Maine lawmakers found agreement on a response to the federal tax-cut bill, states continue to sort out how they’ll collect online sales taxes in the wake of the Wayfair decision, and policymakers in several states have been working on summer tax studies and other preparations for 2019 legislative sessions. Meanwhile, work on ballot measures and candidate tax plans to go before…

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State Tax Codes as Poverty Fighting Tools: 2018 Update on Four Key Policies in All 50 States

• By Aidan Davis, Misha Hill

This report presents a comprehensive overview of anti-poverty tax policies, surveys tax policy decisions made in the states in 2018, and offers recommendations that every state should consider to help families rise out of poverty. States can jumpstart their anti-poverty efforts by enacting one or more of four proven and effective tax strategies to reduce the share of taxes paid by low- and moderate-income families: state Earned Income Tax Credits, property tax circuit breakers, targeted…

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State Rundown 8/22: Wayfair Fallout Could Hit the Pavement Soon

• By ITEP Staff

Arizona voters learned this week that they will have an opportunity this fall to restore school funding through a progressive tax measure. The effects of the Supreme Court’s Wayfair decision could soon be seen on Michigan and Mississippi roads, as leaders in both states have proposed devoting new online sales tax revenues to infrastructure needs. And new research highlighted in our “What We’re Reading” section discredits one-size-fits-all prescriptions for state economic growth such as supply-side…

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State Rundown 8/16: November Ballots and 2019 Debates Coming into Focus

• By ITEP Staff

Even as the haze from western wildfires reduced visibility across the nation this week, voters got more clarity on what to expect to see on their ballots this fall, particularly in California (commercial property taxes and corporate surcharges), Colorado (income taxes for education), Missouri (gas tax update), and North Dakota (recreational cannabis). Meanwhile, although Virginia lawmakers won’t return until 2019, they got a preview of a clear-headed federal conformity plan they should strongly consider. And…

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State Rundown 8/8: States Setting Rules for Upcoming Tax Decisions

• By ITEP Staff

August is often a season for states to define the parameters of tax debates to come, and that is true this week in several states: a tax task force in Arkansas is nearing its final recommendations; residents of Missouri, Montana, and North Carolina await results of court challenges that will decide whether tax measures will show up on their ballots this fall; and Michigan and South Dakota are taking different approaches to making sure they’re…

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Updating Sales and Excise Taxes to Reflect Today’s Economy

• By ITEP Staff

Consumers’ growing interest in online shopping and “gig economy” services like Uber and Airbnb has forced states and localities to revisit their sales taxes, for instance. Meanwhile new evidence on the dangers and causes of obesity has led to rising interest in soda taxes, but the soda industry is fighting back. Carbon taxes are being discussed as a tool for combatting climate change. And changing attitudes toward cannabis use have spurred some states to move…

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State Rundown 8/1: States Stay Busy During Summer “Break”

• By ITEP Staff

Although most state legislatures are out of session during the summer, the pursuit of better fiscal policy has no "off-season." Here at ITEP, we've been revamping the State Rundown to bring you your favorite summary of state budget and tax news in the new-and-improved format you see here. Meanwhile, leaders in Massachusetts and New Jersey have been hard at work in recent weeks and are already looking ahead their next round of budget and tax…

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State Rundown 7/19: Wayfair Fallout and Ballot Preparation Dominate State Tax Talk

• By ITEP Staff

In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Wayfair decision authorizing states to collect taxes owed on online sales, Utah lawmakers held a one-day special session that included (among other tax topics) legislation to ensure the state will be ready to collect those taxes, and a Nebraska lawmaker began pushing for a special session for the same reason. Voters in Colorado and Montana got more clarity on tax-related items they'll see on the ballot…

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Sales Tax Holidays: An Ineffective Alternative to Real Sales Tax Reform

• By Dylan Grundman O'Neill

An updated version of this brief for 2019 is available here. Read this report in PDF. Overview Sales taxes are an important revenue source, composing close to half of all state tax revenues.[1] But sales taxes are also inherently regressive because the lower a family’s income, the more the family must spend on goods and […]

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Building on Momentum from Recent Years, 2018 Delivers Strengthened Tax Credits for Workers and Families

• By Aidan Davis

Despite some challenging tax policy debates, a number of which hinged on states’ responses to federal conformity, 2018 brought some positive developments for workers and their families. This post updates a mid-session trends piece on this very subject. Here’s what we have been following:

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State Rundown 7/10: Budget Brinksmanship and Ballot Battles

• By ITEP Staff

New Jersey avoided a second consecutive shutdown and proved that even against staunch opposition, progressive solutions to states' fiscal issues are attainable, and Arizona voters will likely have a chance to solve their education funding crisis in a similar way. Budget and tax debates remain to be resolved, however, in Maine and Massachusetts. Meanwhile, voters are gaining a clearer picture of what questions they will be asked on ballots this fall as signature drives conclude…

San Jose Mercury News: If California Gas Prices Take Their Seasonal Tumble, Will That Save the Gas Tax?

July 10, 2018

Just so you know, California isn’t the only state raising gasoline taxes. As 2018’s second half starts, drivers in seven states face just-raised taxes on fuel, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. In fact, 27 states nationwide have increased gasoline taxes in the past five years – with Missouri voters facing an […]

Orange County Register: California Isn’t the Only State Hiking Gas Taxes

July 6, 2018

Just so you know, California isn’t the only state raising gasoline taxes. As 2018’s second half starts, drivers in seven states face just-raised taxes on fuel, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. In fact, 27 states nationwide have increased gasoline taxes in the past five years – with Missouri voters facing an Election […]

24/7 Wall Street: 10 States With the Lowest Gas Prices Get Government Help

July 5, 2018

While oil prices are the major component of gas prices, state taxes are often overlooked. And they are unlikely to change very much. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, most increases have been a few pennies, even as the number of states that have bumped them has grown. The organization reports: In […]

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An Update on State Responses to the Federal Tax Bill

• By Dylan Grundman O'Neill

With many state fiscal years beginning July 1, most states that will make decisions this year about federal tax conformity have now done so, so it is now time for an update on how well state policymakers have kept to, or veered from, the path we charted out earlier this year. Most states that have enacted laws in response to the federal changes have adhered to some but not all of the principles we laid…

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What’s at Stake in South Carolina’s Upcoming Tax Conformity Debate

• By Dylan Grundman O'Neill

South Carolina legislators will return next week to try to finalize a few issues before the end of their session and fiscal year on June 30th, including the question of how to respond to the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). That's a short timeframe with some important questions at stake, and some misinformation has been spread, so here's a quick guide to the facts, issues, and options.

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State Rundown 6/13: Budget Crunch Time Sets in as State Fiscal Years Come to Close

• By ITEP Staff

With many state fiscal years ending June 30th, budget negotiations were completed recently in California, Illinois, Michigan, and North Carolina. New Jersey remains a state to watch as a government shutdown looms but leaders continue to disagree about a proposed millionaires tax, corporate taxes, and school funding. In other states looking to wealthy individuals and large corporations for needed revenues, Arizona's teacher pay crisis could be solved with a tax on its highest-income residents and…

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State Rundown 6/1: Time Is Ripe for Closer Look at Intergovernmental Relations

• By ITEP Staff

This week, Virginia lawmakers overcame their budget impasse and approved an expansion of Medicaid, North Carolina's behind closed doors budget debate appears to be wrapping up, and Vermont's special session continues in the wake of the governor's vetoes of the state budget and accompanying tax bills. New research highlighted in our What We're Reading section shows that both corporate income tax cuts and business tax subsidies contribute to wider economic inequality. And the possible reconstitution…

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State Rundown 5/23: Special Sessions Abound Amid Budget Vetoes, Stalemates, Federal Tax Bill

• By ITEP Staff

This week the governors of Louisiana and Minnesota both vetoed budget bills, leading to another special session in Louisiana and unanswered questions in Minnesota, and Missouri legislators managed to push through a tax shift bill just before adjourning their regular session and heading right into a special session to impeach their governor. Wisconsin and Wyoming localities are both looking at ways to raise revenues as state funding drops. And our What We're Reading section contains…

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SALT/Charitable Workaround Credits Require a Broad Fix, Not a Narrow One

• By Carl Davis

The federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) enacted last year temporarily capped deductions for state and local tax (SALT) payments at $10,000 per year. The cap, which expires at the end of 2025, disproportionately impacts taxpayers in higher-income states and in states and localities more reliant on income or property taxes, as opposed to sales taxes. Increasingly, lawmakers in those states who feel their residents were unfairly targeted by the federal law are debating…

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Most States Have Raised Gas Taxes in Recent Years

• By Carl Davis

An updated version of this blog was published in April 2019. State tax policy can be a contentious topic, but in recent years there has been a remarkable level of agreement on one tax in particular: the gasoline tax. Increasingly, state lawmakers are deciding that outdated gas taxes need to be raised and reformed to fund infrastructure projects that are vital to their economies.

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State Rundown 5/17: Don’t Bet on Legal Sports Betting Solving State Budget Woes

• By ITEP Staff

This week the U.S. Supreme Court opened the door to legal sports gambling in the states (see our What We're Reading section), which will surely be a hot topic in state legislative chambers, but most states currently have more pressing matters before them. The teacher pay crisis made news in North Carolina, Alabama, and nationally. Louisiana, Oregon, and Vermont lawmakers are headed for special sessions over tax and budget issues. And several other states have recently reached or are very near the end of their legislative sessions.