For Immediate Release: Jan. 31, 2013
Senators Advance Legislation to House of Representatives

Measures address various tax credits

JEFFERSON CITY — Several Senate bills received the upper chamber’s final approval today, extending the sunsets for various tax credit programs and creating a tax credit to attract certain sporting events to the Show-Me State. Senate Bill 20, sponsored by Sen. Bob Dixon, R-Springfield, and Senate Bill 10, sponsored by Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Glendale, are the first Senate bills of 2013 voted out of the chamber and sent to the House for similar consideration.

Senate Bill 20 changes Missouri law regarding certain benevolent tax credit programs by:

  • Extending the Public Safety Officer Surviving Spouse tax credit program (sunsets December 2019);
  • Eliminating provisions authorizing funds from the Special Needs Adoption tax credit be used for the Children in Crisis tax credit, establishing a $2 million cap for in-state adoptions, and prohibiting the use of this tax credit for out-of-state adoptions;
  • Changing the name of the Children in Crisis tax credit to the Champion for Children tax credit, reauthorizing this tax credit to sunset in December 2019, and establishing a $2 million per tax year cap for the tax credit;
  • Extending the sunset to December 2019 on a section of state law that creates the tax credit for certain taxpayers who modify their homes to make them accessible for a disabled resident;
  • Removing spending requirements for remaining tax credits under the Rebuilding Communities tax credit program;
  • Reauthorizing tax credits for contributions to pregnancy resource centers (to sunset December 2019) and prohibiting the assignment or transfer of this particular tax credit;
  • Also reauthorizing the tax credit for donations to food pantries (to sunset December 2019) and reducing the cap to $1.25 million per fiscal year; and
  • Placing the recently created developmental disability care provider tax credit program under the requirements of the Tax Credit Accountability Act of 2004.

Senate Bill 20, perfected by the Missouri Senate on Monday and given final approval by senators today, contains an emergency clause, meaning it would immediately become law upon receipt of the governor’s signature.

Senate Bill 10, also passed out of the Senate today, creates a tax credit to attract amateur sporting events to Missouri.  More specifically, the act would create a refundable income and financial institutions tax credit which would be available for sports commissions, certain nonprofit organizations, counties and municipalities to offset expenses incurred in attracting amateur sporting events to the state, such as the Olympics trials and national collegiate championship games. 

Applicants would have to submit their game support contracts to the Department of Economic Development for approval.  This tax credit would equal $5 for every ticket sold to the sporting event or 100 percent of eligible expenses incurred, with no more than $3 million in tax credits issued per fiscal year.

This measure would take effect on Aug. 28 if passed out of the General Assembly and signed by the governor.