The legislature is moving to keep the state from charging a sales tax anytime some Missourians buy a home.
A state Supreme Court ruling clears the way for the state to demand a sales tax be collected anytime one of about 217,600 manufactured homes is sold. But the Senate is on the verge of passing a bill that would prohibit that.
About eight percent of the homes in Missouri are manufactured homes. Those are the ones Senator Mike Cunningham of Rogersville wants to protect. He says the Revenue Department will start demanding sales taxes be collected whenever one of those homes changes hands unless the legislature forbids it.
The problem is that a stick-built home is considered real property and sales tax is not charged on real property sales. But manufactured homes are considered personal property and personal property is taxable when sold. It’s in the same category as selling a used car, for example
.Cunningham says manufactured homes are important to many as starter homes, temporary homes for people moving to a different place, or retirees looking to downsize.
The |Senate is about to send the bill to the House which has exactly a month to act on it. The legislative session ends a month from today.
