Gov. Mike Parson is crediting the growth in Missouri to President Donald Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
In a news release, Parson’s office said 64% of Missouri taxpayers have seen an increase in take-home pay. That’s about $6 billion more than last year around the state.
“More Missourians are going back to work, seeing an increase in take-home pay, and keeping more of their hard-earned money,” said Parson. “Missouri conservatives have long championed the fundamental principle of reducing the tax burden for individuals of all incomes.”
The bottom line, he said: “incomes are up and taxes are down.”
With nearly 3 million people filing a Missouri state income tax return each year, as of April 29, nearly 2 million taxpayers had filed original returns with the same filing status in 2018 as they did in the previous year.
Senator Roy Blunt says the act has fueled “the strongest economic growth we’ve seen in more than a decade.”
“The increase in take-home pay because of Republican tax cuts is having a positive impact on local economies,” Blunt said. “In the first 12 months following passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, sales and use tax revenue increased by nearly 2.5 percent. That means more money going into small businesses that drive job growth.”
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act also comes with the state’s passage of an income tax cut authored by Missouri House Speaker Elijah Haahr, described as the “largest single year income tax cut.”
The state unemployment rate is the lowest it has been since 2000. It has gone down 1.2% since January 2017, leaving it at 3.3%.
Haahr calls Missouri families the “clear winners” of the tax reform efforts.