Missouri taxes generally regressive, study shows

Even though Missouri is generally perceived as a low-tax state, the overall tax structure tends to favor the wealthy.

That's according to a new report released this week by the Washington D.C.-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP).

Nationally the study found middle- and low-income families tend to pay higher shares of taxes than their wealthy counterparts. That regressive trend also holds for Missouri.

“The harsh reality is that most states require their poor and middle income
taxpayers to pay the most taxes as a share of income,” Matthew Gardner of ITEP said in a press release.

In Missouri, just one of six states to offer deductions for federal taxes paid, the wealthiest one percent of taxpayers pay an estimated 6.6 percent in taxes. The lowest 20 percent of taxpayers, however, pay 9.6 percent.

“Fairness is in the eye of the beholder.” noted Gardner. “But virtually anyone would agree that this upside-down approach to state and local taxes is astonishingly inequitable.”

ITEP is a think-tank that has focused on distributional tax issues since the 1980s.

Related Links:
ITEP's 'Who Pays' Study
ITEP's Missouri Fact Sheet

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