Some Missouri businesses having a hard time getting financial help might benefit from a tax credit program that is in the works. A bill on tap to become law next month is designed to increase access to funding for businesses who might be too small to get financial help from big investment firms, but too large for banks to help.
“Really, the inspiration came from…a farmer is kind of just like a small business, and trying to find that working capital to expand is tough to do,” said state Rep. Kurtis Gregory, R-Marshall. “It’s that really nice niche place if they need to get in some technology to put out more product, or go out and hire more workers, maybe expand and use like a welding shop, or they need to maybe get a machine, which does the precision cutting. That’s really expensive, but something that they can use. They don’t have the money right now, but if they get it, they’re going to be able to expand their footprint, hire, more people to work for them, and just really build that rural business community structure up.”
Gregory led the bill through the Missouri House. State Sen. Curtis Trent, R-Springfield, sponsored the Missouri Senate version.
Gregory said the legislation aims to bring more business to Missouri, especially smaller communities.
“Thirty percent of the funds can go into urban areas, but it has to stay in certain sectors of companies, like agricultural. I think there’s some medical, manufacturing. So, it’s really it’s called Missouri Rural Access to Credit, but it really is a bill for the entire state of Missouri,” he told Missourinet.
The tax credits are for U.S. businesses only.
“If it doesn’t have a one-to-one ratio, return to the state of Missouri, the tax credits aren’t going to be issued,” Gregory said. “So that’s really kind of the good conservative backstop to it is, if it doesn’t perform like it’s supposed to, the state gets its money back.”
For more information about Senate Bill 802, click here.
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