Mid-Missouri Business Weeks: Tax reform rolls out in Missouri, helps businesses

Former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens signed a corporate tax reform package his last day in office. Once current Gov. Mike Parson took office, he signed into law tax reform for individual and small businesses.

ABC 17’s Deborah Kendrick sat down with Ray McCarty, the president and CEO of Associated Industries of Missouri to talk about how these reforms and tax cuts are impacting Missouri businesses.

The goal of AIM is to keep taxes as low as possible. With recent reform, this goal is nearly met.

“We’re on the heels of the federal tax cuts, and they dramatically cut the corporate income tax at the federal level. At the state level, what the bill Governor Greitens signed was to cut Missouri’s corporate tax by about a third of what it used to be,” McCarty said. “On the individual side, the bill that Governor Parson signed actually lowers the income tax rate for everyone by about 10 percent.”

McCarty said Vice President Mike Pence has attended two different forums in the state, and Missouri businesses represented AIM at each. A business in Lebanon said thanks to the tax reforms, customers have more money in their pockets to spend at the business. Another business in St. Louis spoke about how these tax cuts allow the company to invest more in employees, hire more employees, and put more resources into research and development.