Missouri law permits certain local jurisdictions to charge an income earnings tax on persons who live or work in such local jurisdictions. While all Missouri earnings taxes should be ultimately abolished, charging any person who does not physically work in the City of St. Louis or Kansas City any city earnings tax is an abusive income tax policy.

For instance, employees who worked virtually in the City of St. Louis during the COVID shutdowns were charged a 1% earnings tax. I liken this to a person who calls into the City of St. Louis for a conference call and is required to pay 1% of their income to interact with the City of St. Louis business community. There is no logical rationale to charge an income tax to people who work virtually for a business domesticated in the City of St. Louis or Kansas City.

I do not support an immediate full repeal of Missouri's 1% local earnings tax because jurisdictions such as the City of St. Louis fund over 30% of their local operation budget from local income taxes. Eliminating the 1% earnings tax would cause property taxes to skyrocket and sales taxes to reach the maximum rate by Missouri law. After 2026, I support an 8-year phaseout of all local earnings taxes across Missouri. 

Local voters must reauthorize any local earnings tax by ballot election every 5 years, which is an appropriate check on any form of tax on Missourians. While the overall goal is to eliminate Missouri local earnings taxes, local voters who seek to tax their local income earned in their home jurisdiction to fund county-level services is a bridge too far from the current Missouri system that permits virtual workers and workers who live or work outside of the local jurisdiction and workers