By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Two tax break proposals before the Missouri General Assembly have little time to make it through this legislative process.
Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, a Republican from Parkville who represents Platte and Buchanan Counties, proposes Missouri eliminate the state income tax on Social Security benefits.
“Missouri is one of only 11 states in the country that taxes Social Security benefits,” Luetkemeyer says, “and so my bill would eliminate those state-level income taxes on Social Security and I think this is particularly important right now with the environment that we’re in with inflation and costs going up on everything from gas to groceries.”
Luetkemeyer, during an interview with KFEQ/St. Joseph Post, also proposes capping the property taxes on homeowners 65-years-old and older.
Both proposals have cleared the Senate and now are in the House with two weeks left to go in the Missouri legislative session.
Luetkemeyer won’t choose one as more important than the other.
“I think for the people who are facing the prospect of being taxed out of their home, that’s probably a more impactful piece of legislation,” Luetkemeyer says. “But I think whenever it comes to the broadest impact in terms of the number of seniors that are impacted, probably the Social Security income tax one would have a broader impact.”
Luetkemeyer has little time to waste. Both proposals have cleared the Senate and now are in the hands of the House with the May 12th deadline approaching.