A new Web site provides Missouri voters with information about a proposed state constitutional amendment barring politicians from imposing double taxation on sales of homes and other real estate.
I would encourage Missouri residents to visit www.YesToSaveHomes.com to learn more about the proposal.
Petition signatures are now being gathered to place on the November 2010 ballot the proposal’s straightforward and simple language: “Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to prevent the state, counties, and other political subdivisions from imposing any new tax, including a sales tax, on the sale or transfer of homes or any other real estate?”
Transfer taxes on home sales are double taxation because Missourians already pay annual property taxes on real estate, often over many decades of ownership. Missouri is among just 13 states that do not impose a transfer tax on real estate sales, including all of Missouri’s neighboring states. As state, county and city revenues decline, politicians are tempted to impose new transfer taxes – just as Missouri citizens are struggling to make it.
“This unfair double taxation can happen in Missouri under current law. We are asking voters to keep politicians from penalizing Missourians with bad public policy that denies fairness and defies Missouri common sense,” said Elizabeth Mendenhall, a REALTOR® from Columbia, Missouri, and spokesperson for the Vote Yes To Stop Double Taxation campaign committee.
“Many Missourians have lost jobs or had pay cuts. Some have been forced to sell their homes, many at a loss, because of drops in property values. This is particularly true for lower-income Missourians, who typically spend a larger percentage of income on their home,” added Mendenhall, who is also president-elect of the 22,000-member Missouri Association of Realtors. “Our fellow Missourians who are experiencing this severe financial strain shouldn’t be subjected to more taxes – especially the unfair double taxation of a real estate transfer tax.”
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