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.
