At a time when the state is facing a half-billion dollar funding shortfall, the legislature is moving quickly to limit or eliminate a tax that produces 85-million dollars a year. But lawmakers say it would be good for business.
The corporate franchise tax has been a target for years. Corporations with more than ten million dollars in assets pay one-thirtieth of one percent tax on those assets.
Proposals at the capitol either would limit the total tax for any one corporation to two-million dollars a year or would gradually repeal the tax during the next five years.
Senator Eric Schmitt of Glendale says it’s bad for business–which already pays a sales tax and an income tax as well as property taxes. He calls it a “disincentive” for investment in Missouri.
A spokesman for an industrial association has told a senate committee it is time to “control, torture, or kill” the tax.
Legislative committees in both chambers are reviewing the proposal.