Property Taxes Property tax is often a major tax expense for a company. Because it is set and administered locally, property tax is seldom comparable from state to state. Not only do tax levies vary widely from one city to another, but the assessment ratio for determining property value differs significantly among the 50 states. Even within one state assuring a uniform assessment practice is very difficult.
Missouri law sets the assessment ratio for personal property at one-third of true value throughout the state. Real properties (land and buildings) classified as commercial and industrial, are assessed at 32 percent; residential, 19 percent; and agricultural, 12 percent of true or fair market value. The local property tax rate is an aggregate of school, city, county and state levies expressed in tax per $100 assessed valuation. Commercial and industrial real property is assessed an additional county surcharge designed to replace revenues lost by the tax exemption of business inventories.
The average county surcharge is about $1.02 per $100 assessed valuation, for a total commercial/industrial real property average tax rate of about $6.89 per $100. The average total personal property tax rate is about $5.87 per $100 valuation.
For example, at a particular Missouri site the commercial and industrial property tax rates might be as follows:
| State |
$ .03 |
| County |
$ 1.92 |
| City |
$ .77 |
| School |
$ 3.15 |
| Surtax (real property) |
$ 1.02 |
Total rates per $100:
Personal Property.............$5.87
Real Property....................$6.89
Thus a company would pay $5.87 per $100 on 1/3 of its total personal property, and $6.89 per $100 on 32% of its total real property value.
NOTE: This is provided as an example only, your actual tax liability will vary based on the tax rates for the specific business location.
Business and Community Services
301 W. High Street, Rooms 720, 770 Jefferson City, Missouri 65102
Tel: 800-523-1434 Fax: 573-751-7384 Email: missouridevelopment@ded.mo.gov |