The Show-Me Institute has released a policy study titled, "Should Missouri Eliminate the Individual Income Tax?" It’s a study comparing what the Institute calls Missouri’s relatively stagnant economy with states that do not levy individual income taxes.

University of Missouri Economics Professor Joe Haslag, who serves as Research Director for the Show-Me Institute, says the study concludes that altering or eliminating the state’s individual income tax could well improve our economic condition. But he says the study stops short of suggesting an alternative for raising needed revenues.

Haslag says that while further discussion is needed, the Show-Me Institute had previously put forward a proposal to eliminate the state income tax and replace it with a broadened tax base at the sales tax level and to provide some kind of mechanism to provide a rebate for lower-income Missourians to mitigate some of the regressive impact of sales taxes.

Download/Listen: Steve Walsh report (:60 MP3)