Missouri has a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, but unlike other states with similar amendments, it appears that couples in same-sex marriages who need to file a Missouri tax return can file those returns as married.
Missouri’s tax laws say that taxpayers must use the same filing status on their Missouri return as they use on their federal return. This puts the tax law in conflict with the constitution when it comes to same-sex married couples. (Remember, a same-sex married couple can file their federal taxes as married — regardless of the state they live in.)
Other states with similar conflicts between tax law and the state constitution have said couples in same-sex marriages CANNOT file state taxes as married because the constitution trumps the tax law. See Nebraska, for example.
However, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon last week issued an executive order that decrees that couples in same-sex marriages can file their Missouri tax returns as married.
Kay Bell at the Don’t Mess With Taxes blog has more coverage here.
[…] Using self-reported American Community Survey data, we find that residential property taxes tend to be close to $1,000 per year, with a small share of households paying substantially more, especially in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and New Hampshire. In recent years, 48 percent of homeowners paid between $750 and $1,750 in property taxes. About one-third—31 percent—paid less than $750 and 21 percent paid more than $1,750. Just 3 percent paid more than $4,000, with a miniscule share of homeowners (0.2 percent) paying more than $8,000. That seems low, but my clients probably aren’t a representative sample.Jason Dinesen, Missouri Guidance on Same-Sex Marriage […]