Lawmakers were back in the Capitol this week addressing the governor’s call for a special session to decrease personal income tax rates and address agricultural-focused tax credits that he vetoed after last session.
The Senate advanced legislation to decrease personal income tax rates. This legislative compromise will decrease the individual income tax rate from 5.3 percent to 4.95 percent starting in the next calendar year. Additionally, it allows for the rate to lower again to 4.8 percent in 2024, depending on triggers associated with state revenue collection. The individual rate could eventually decrease to 4.5 percent with additional triggers established by the legislation. The bill also exempts the first $1,000 of a taxpayer’s income from taxation in the next calendar year; current law exempts the first $100.
The bill is sponsored by Sen. Lincoln Hough, a Republican from Springfield and was rolled together with legislation sponsored by Sen. Andrew Koenig, a Republican from St. Louis.
The Senate also passed legislation to extend the sunset dates on some agricultural tax credits from two to six years, as requested by the governor. The legislature passed the original bill in the 2022 legislative session with a two-year sunset date. Governor Parson vetoed it and instead asked for a six-year limit in order to make the tax credits more workable.
Both bills are now in the hands of the Missouri House. The Missouri House passed its own version of the agriculture tax credit legislation on Wednesday.
Lawmakers return to Jefferson City next week as the special session continues.
For more information on this issue, contact Kara Corches, Missouri Chamber vice president of governmental affairs, at kcorches@mochamber.com.
