taxes

Legislation that would provide tax breaks for Boeing to build its 777X passenger jet in Missouri was passed Tuesday night by two legislative committees.

First, the Missouri Senate Committee on Economic Development passed their version of the bill, followed a few hours later by the House Economic Development Committee passing its version.  There are no major differences in the two – both would provide $150 million in incentives to Boeing to build the 777X at its campus near Lambert Airport. 

Missouri Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon has called lawmakers back to Jefferson City for a special session in an attempt to win a contract from Boeing to build the 777X passenger jet.

Missouri's regular session for 2014 begins in just over a month, but in a press release Nixon says holding a special session is necessary because Boeing's deadline for proposals is Dec. 10.

On Wednesday, the Hall Family Foundation announced that it was pledging $75 million to Children's Mercy Hospital for build a translational medicine research building on Children's Mercy's campus on Hospital Hill.

Kansas lawmakers this year spared early childhood programs from the budget axe, but advocates for those programs say children didn't fare well overall in the 2013 legislative session.

The top concern, according to April Holman of the non-profit Kansas Action for Children, is that lawmakers balanced the budget using more than $9 million that should have gone into an endowment for early childhood funding.

Jackson County officials are acknowledging that new valuations on 18,000 residential properties may not be accurate and need additional review.

Republicans in the Missouri Senate have scaled back a proposal to cut state taxes in order to emulate tax cuts in neighboring Kansas and Oklahoma.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, a Democrat, has strongly objected to the bill's sales tax hike, saying it would hurt the poor and elderly the most.  That provision has been dropped.  

House Bill 253 would now cut the personal income tax rate by half a percentage point and the corporate rate by three points, and phase them both in over the next 10 years. 

It appears that Missouri has lost more than $2 billion in revenue over the past nine years because it does not collect sales taxes on purchases made over the Internet. 

Downtown Kansas City, Missouri voters approved a special tax to fund a two-mile streetcar route in downtown Kansas City, although fewer than 500 people voted.

What will it take for Kansas City, Mo. to finally fix its streets and sewer system?  Earlier this year, Mayor Sly James announced a bold plan for improving Kansas City's infrastructure that would involve spending $1 billion over the next 10 years.

The Kansas House has surprised the Senate by bypassing a compromise tax-cut plan while the Senate was preparing to vote on it.

When IRS agents raided the house of rapper Young Buck, they seized all his things: his white leather dining chairs, his watches, his craps table, his tattoo kit. Even his refrigerator. The Nashville artist, who was once part of 50 Cent's G-Unit, owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes.

His lawyer, Robin Mitchell Joyce, said he thought Young Buck's taxes were being handled by his business manager. They weren't.

See our earlier entries in this series: What America Sells To The World, What America Does For Work and What America Buys

In 2012, the federal tax return deadline is Tuesday, April 17 — so if you haven't already filed your income tax return, you have about one week left to shop around for different options to finish your taxes, or request an extension.

At his annual State of the State address on Wednesday night, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback advocated a plan to cut taxes for roughly 1.6 million Kansans. 

He also outlined a plan to change the way Kansas public schools are funded, and called for the Kansas Legislature to fix the Sunflower State's state employee pension plan.

Kansas City, MO – When someone gets tax abatement for a development project, they enter into a contract - they say how much the project will cost, how many jobs created, and often agree to pay the city back for work it has to do.

Kansas City, MO – Kansas City government snatched some relief from Tuesday's earnings tax repeal referendum. The Public Safety Sales Tax passed and was noted in Council Committees the day after.

Topeka, Kan. –
In the future, Kansans could be paying a fee to file their taxes the old-fashioned way, on paper. Statehouse reporter Stephen Koranda explains.

Kansas City, Mo. – A bill that would give the Missouri General Assembly control over almost every state tax credit is being debated in the State Senate.

The bill's supporters, including GOP Senator Chuck Purgason, say giving lawmakers control over the size of each tax break would ensure that they can set aside enough money to fund education, health care and other critical needs.

"When you are sitting there trying to make a decision whether to cut Medicaid, not fund the formula, or issue tax credits, I think that's an issue that we need to make," says Purgason.