Kehoe renews local tax effort on vehicle sales

State Sen. Mike Kehoe is back this year with another bill to restore local vehicle sales taxes ended by the Missouri Supreme Court a year ago.

The court's Jan. 31, 2012, ruling said counties and cities that had not approved a "use tax" on residents' out-of-state purchases of vehicles, boats and trailers could not charge a use tax.

Lawmakers approved language restoring those taxes as though the court's ruling never happened, so that people who had made out-of-state vehicle purchases would owe the tax, but Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed the 2012 measure, noting local governments could solve their problems by asking their voters to approve a use tax on the out-of-state sales, the same way many jurisdictions have approved a local sales tax.

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