Bring Jobs Home Act Targets Businesses Moving to Missouri

A new bill filed in the Missouri House seeks to attract businesses to Missouri while avoiding the problems of the controversial HB 253 that was proposed last year and which was successfully vetoed by Governor Jay Nixon. Critics charged that HB 253 would have substantially gutted funding for schools; according to figures provided by the state, Worth County could have lost as much as $180,000. The Coalition for Missouri's Future, a group opposed to this bill, said that it would have gutted state funding by as much as $800 million per year.

The Bring Jobs Home Act (HB 1089) is much more narrowly tailored; specifically, it provides for tax breaks for businesses relocating to Missouri. There is a cap for tax breaks set at $10 million; businesses taking advantage of this break would be served on a first come first served basis. Businesses relocating to Missouri would be allowed to deduct any amount for which a deduction is allowed to the taxpayer under Section 162 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, permit and license fees, lease brokerage fees, equipment installation costs and similar expenses, and eligible expenses paid in connection with the elimination of business units outside of Missouri and establishment of business units within the state.

Under this bill, a business can deduct 20% of eligible insourcing expenses. No deduction would be allowed unless the number of full time employees for the taxable year for which the deduction is claimed is more than the number of full time employees in the year before eligible expenses were incurred. If a taxpayer is not allowed a deduction under the $10 million ceiling provision, they would be allowed one the next year. Should a taxpayer take a deduction under this section and then eliminate the business within 10 years, they would be required to repay the state.

The bill has a 6-year sunset clause; it would expire unless renewed by the legislature. If it is renewed by the legislature, it would then have a 12-year sunset clause.

McCaskill Backs Legislation To End Tax Breaks for Companies Shipping Jobs Overseas

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill is backing a measure to boost job creation by rewarding companies that “insource” jobs to the U.S., while ending tax breaks for those companies shipping jobs overseas.

The Bring Jobs Home Act introduced by Senator Debbie Stabenow, creates a special 20 percent tax credit for the moving expenses of companies who shift operations back to the U.S. from abroad.

The bill also prevents companies from deducting from their taxes the costs associated with shipping jobs overseas. Under current law, companies can deduct 100 percent of the cost of shipping equipment overseas, terminating leases, and other expenses associated with offshoring a business—meaning that taxpayers are on the hook for millions of dollars annually.

“Right now, some companies are undercutting hardworking Americans by sending valuable jobs out of the country,” McCaskill said. “We shouldn’t be rewarding them for doing it. Instead, let’s use some common sense, and reduce their incentive to outsource by ending tax breaks for companies that send jobs overseas, and rewarding companies that bring jobs back to the United States.”

A similar measure had bipartisan majority support in the Senate last year, but ultimately failed to advance after a Republican filibuster.