THE MISSOURI TAX SYSTEM 87

private car tax; (2) the poll tax; (3) the inheritance tax;
(4) the income tax; (5) special taxes on business, including
incorporation taxes, the corporation franchise tax, the
foreign insurance company tax, and the express company
tax; (6) the gasoline tax and motor vehicle licenses; and
(7) miscellaneous business and non-business licenses and
permits. This order of treatment is not intended to indicate
the relative importance of the several sources of tax revenue.

The General Property Tax
The general property tax is an important element in the
state revenue system of Missouri, and predominates in the
finances of all local governments in the state. The real
=state and the tangible and intangible property of individuals
 and corporations are taxed at the same rate. The
required uniformity of rates is, however, applicable only to a
given taxing jurisdiction, and the combined state and local
rate on property is not necessarily the same in the case of
any two local governmental divisions.
Merchants are taxed at general property tax rates on the
largest amount of goods, wares, and merchandise owned or
under their control between the first Mondays of March and
of June in each year, and manufacturers are similarly taxed
on all raw material and finished products, as well as tools,
machinery, and appliances used or owned. These taxes on
merchants and manufactures constitute a special category
of general property taxes, which in official state sources is
referred to as the “Merchants and Manufacturers Tax,”
In form this tax is a license tax, but in fact it is a property
tax.
The exemptions from the general property tax are comparatively
 few in number. As has been seen, the constitution
 provides for the exemption of public property, cemeteries,
 and a certain amount of real property when used for
charitable, religious, or educational purposes. Shares of
stock in manufacturing companies are not taxable to the
owners. It has been held by court decision that, if a corporation
 pays taxes on its property, the taxing of stock-1

 Specific mention of the merchants and manufacturers tax is made in this
-hapter in order that its status as a property tax may be definitely established.