JEFFERSON CITY — The Senate has given initial approval to a bill that aligns Missouri's income tax filing date with federal dates and protects taxpayers from penalties if they are denied a state tax credit because funds aren't available.
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Mike Henderson, R-Desloge, said in floor debate Monday that SB 994 will eliminate “unnecessary punishment” and waive extra fees for taxpayers who were denied a tax credit.
A number of state tax credits are awarded on a first-come basis until a dollar ceiling is reached to protect the state budget.
The most attention to the bill came in discussion of helping young farmers.
Sen. Brad Hudson, R-Cape Fair, proposed an amendment which would deduct income taxes for the sale or lease of land to “beginning farmers.” The tax credit would incentivize young residents to purchase land for agriculture, he said.
Sen. Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, who is a cattle farmer, questioned the ethics of the amendment. Hough said it benefits corporations and trust funds, not just farmers.
Hudson returned to his main point: traditional family farms should not bear “the frustration of tax liability.”
Hudson said he shared Hough’s concern about corporations buying farmland and also expressed concern for traditional family farms.
“The traditional family farm is going extinct and that concerns me as well. And we got a piece of legislation here that will help ensure its survival in the future,” Hudson said.
Hough said he would not attempt to block the amendment, but believed it was morally wrong to incentivize selling to one buyer over another.
“So we’re treating those two buyers differently now. This is not a trap, but does that seem fair to you?” Hough asked.
Hudson responded that giving incentivization for struggling industries is a common government practice.
“I recognize that in a perfect world legislation like this wouldn’t need to exist, but, senator, we don’t live in a perfect world, " Hudson said, “We live in the real world, and in the real world these family farms are going away to extinction."
“One of the reasons that they are is because those that hold these family farms do not have the incentive or have the frustration of the tax liability that they would acquire should they pass that farm down to their heirs,” Hudson said.
The amendment was passed without opposition.