PROBLEMS OF TAX BURDEN 281 
Is the Missouri Income Tax an Urban Tax? 
[t is frequently stated that, when a state adopts an income 
tax, the tax burden of the urban population is increased and 
that of the agricultural communities is reduced. In a recent 
Conference Board study, the following reasons for this con- 
clusion were offered: “(1) the per capita current income of 
farmers is considerably lower than that of the non-farm popu- 
lation; (2) a substantial portion of the farmers’ income is 
received in non-cash items which are consumed by the 
farmers’ families and, therefore, never reported as taxable 
income; (3) farming is carried on in small units as compared 
to trade and manufacturing, producing more numerous but 
smaller incomes; as a result, a portion is not taxed because 
of the personal exemptions allowed, and the remainder falls 
in the lower brackets of the progressive rate schedules.’ 
The reference to progressive rate schedules is not applic- 
able to Missouri at the present time. Nevertheless the 
Missouri income tax is very largely an urban tax. The in- 
come tax levies or collections in urban communities of Mis- 
souri cannot be segregated from the county totals. However, 
Tables 86 and 87 represent a satisfactory approach to the 
question of the urban and rural contributions to the total 
receipts from the tax. In Table 86, only the personal income 
tax levies in 1928 are considered, while in Table 87 both the 
personal and corporation taxes are included. 
According to the data in Table 86, the personal income 
taxes levied in St. Louis Cityin 1928 amounted to $1,134,754, 
or 47.29, of the total for the state. The number of incomes 
assessed in that city was 61,877, or 45.6%, of the state total, 
and the average levy was $18.34. Since only one person out 
of about thirteen of the population was assessed, the per 
capita levy was only $1.40. St. Louis County showed a 
smaller ratio of incomes assessed to population, but the 
average levy of $25.54 and the per capita levy of $1.72 were 
considerably higher than for St. Louis City. St. Louis City 
and St. Louis County accounted for 60.6%, of the personal 
income taxes levied and 55.09 of the total number of per- 
y Nashonsd Industrial Conference Board, State Income Taxes, 1930, Vol. II, 
J. I.