Missouri’s Tax Credit Crisis

Since the late 1990s, Missouri’s tax credit system has grown into one of
the biggest burdens on the state’s annual budgets, expending billions
of dollars over the last decade and setting the stage for significant
budgetary crises in the near future. In fiscal year 2013, Missouri
expects tax credit redemptions to cost the state as much as the state is
spending on its correctional and public safety systems — roughly $700
million. Put in another context, the entirety of 2013’s projected
deficit is less than the state’s expected tax credit payout by about
$200 million. Suffice to say, this is real money that legislators will
have to understand and grapple with, given the squeeze tax credits have
put on the FY2013 budget and will put on state budgets in future years.