Having grown up in Texas and gone to college in Utah, I never had to deal with Personal Property Tax until moving to Missouri. And I must say that I’m not a fan of the tax at all (not that I like any tax really). Here’s a quick rundown of how it works:

How It Works

By March 1st you have to return a Personal Property Declaration on which is listed any type of personal property that is deemed taxable. Here in Missouri this includes any vehicles, boats, recreational vehicles, and probably some other things that I’m not aware of. You have to declare anything of this type that you owned on January 1st of that year. You are then taxed at some percentage based on a third of the appraised value. That’s the basic gist of it.

Why I Dislike It

1. First of all, you’re charged an entire year’s worth of taxes based on what you owned on January 31st. I raised this question since I’ll be leaving the state to go back to school in late summer. I was told that there was no pro-ration and that you would owe the entire tax even if you only lived in the state for one day if that day was January 1st. It just seems absurd to me.

2. This tax doesn’t seem to be in place of something else. As you probably know, there are some states who have a sales tax and some who don’t. Some states have property taxes and others don’t (or are at least minimal). Some states have an income tax, and others do not. Well, not only does Missouri have all of these, it also has this personal property tax. You pay sales taxes when you buy a car here, and then you’re subsequently taxed every year thereafter just for owning it. Again, it’s simply absurd.

3. I can sort of understand property taxes on real estate. Real estate generally appreciates over time and as the saying goes concerning land, they aren’t making any more of it. The Personal Property Tax, on the other hand is a tax on items that generally depreciate and they can make any number of them. Unfortunately you have to pay both in Missouri.

These are some of the reasons that I dislike the Personal Property Tax. I’m sure I could think of more if I wanted to dwell on the subject (which I don’t). I’m also sure that there are other absurdities in the tax system in other states. What are some issues that you have with some of the taxes where you’re from?

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