Corporate & Securities Law

Missouri Sales Tax

By sbl

An important aspect of doing business in Missouri that often gets little attention until late in the planning phase is sales tax. In Missouri there is currently a base sales tax of 4.225% imposed on the sale of all “tangible personal property” and taxable services. Note that the 4.225% is just the state of Missouri’s cut — counties and cities may tack on their own additions to that rate.

Fortunately, as long as you?re collecting the appropriate amount of tax, many of the potential administrative headaches are diminished because you remit all collected sales taxes to the MO Department of Revenue, which then forwards the appropriate amounts to any city or county that gets a share. So the trick is making sure you collect the right amount of sales tax and apply it to the proper sales.

Determining the amount of sales tax is relatively simple. When you file for your sales tax registration for your business location(s), the state will let you know your rate. If you?d like to know the rate for a particular location, you can look it up here or print out a full rate card for your location.

Once you know your rate, it?s just a matter of making sure that it is properly collected on each taxable sale. If you are selling physical items, other than food, to end consumers, you can almost be assured that the sale is fully taxable. Note that sales of certain services are taxable and that certain food items are taxed at a lower rate. If you have questions about the appropriate tax for an item, check with your lawyer, or with the Missouri Department of Revenue.

The actual mechanics of collecting the tax on each sale are dependant on the specifics of your POS system, so check with your POS system vendor to make sure that sales tax is being collected appropriately.

For more info on handling the Missouri sales tax, you can check out these resources:

General info/FAQs

Info on taxability and exemptions

Forms for sales tax registration

Good luck and please remember the information here is very general and may not apply to your specific situation. Nothing here should be considered legal advice. For information on your situation, contact your lawyer or the appropriate government agency.

Full post as published by St. Louis Small Business Lawyer on February 25, 2008 (boomark / email).