(March 12, 2007) The Missouri House today gave preliminary approval to HB 458, a reduction of the franchise tax. This bill is a priority of the Taxpayers Research Institute of Missouri. We congratulate the sponsor, Rep. Mike Sutherland (R-99, Warrenton) for his leadership in passing this pro-business, pro-jobs legislation.During the perfection process, an amendment was added to the bill by Rep. Sutherland that requires health insurance to be offered to employees and more than half of the premiums to be paid by the employer before receiving any benefits under the bill. The Institute will work with the sponsor to resolve potential constitutional problems that could arise from the specific language used to encourage health insurance coverage in the bill. As written, the bill would provide two different tax rates for similar taxpayers, based solely on whether or not the employer provides health insurance. While similar to the threshold approach in the senate version of the bill, the different rates for similarly situated taxpayers may raise constitutional issues.
The Institute thanks the sponsor for his efforts to remove the double taxation caused by the Missouri Corporation Franchise Tax. To see the vote on this bill, click on "Key Votes" on the left side of the screen.
