CivicBrands
Reading:

Taxes

Taxes, two states, and the border war.

If you work in KCMO, you pay an earnings tax even if you live in Kansas. If you live in Missouri but work in Kansas, you pay both states' income tax and get a credit. The Missouri-Kansas "border war" — the corporate poaching of jobs across State Line — has shaped decades of tax policy here. This page is the practical version, with the political background.

KCMO earnings tax (the "E-tax")

Kansas City, Missouri imposes a 1% earnings tax on income earned by people who live OR work inside KCMO city limits. It funds about a third of the city's general fund — police, fire, basic services.

The tax is automatically withheld from paychecks if your employer is in KCMO. If you work remotely or are self-employed, you owe it yourself — file Form RD-109 annually with the City Revenue Division.

Voters renew the earnings tax every 5 years. It has passed every time since 2011. If removed, KCMO's basic services would lose roughly a third of their funding.

State income tax

Both Missouri and Kansas tax personal income. If you live in one state and work in the other, you file in both — but you get a credit so you do not pay twice on the same income.

If you moved across the state line during the year, you file as a part-year resident in both states. A tax preparer or VITA volunteer can help — see libraries for free tax prep during the season.

Sales tax

Combined state + local sales tax in the metro ranges from about 7% to over 10%, depending on which city + special districts (CIDs, TDDs) you're in. The differences:

In KCMO some districts hit 10.85%+. The "extra" inside a CID often subsidizes a developer for the project on that block. Receipts will show the breakdown.

Missouri reduced grocery sales tax to 1.225% (state portion) in 2024. Kansas eliminated its state grocery sales tax entirely effective 2025 — but local grocery sales tax may still apply.

The border war (1850s — present)

Two distinct things share that name:

The original (1854-1865)

The Kansas-Missouri Border War was a violent guerilla conflict over whether Kansas would enter the Union as a free or slave state. Pro-slavery Missouri "Border Ruffians" raided Kansas; abolitionist Kansas "Jayhawkers" raided Missouri. Quantrill's Raid on Lawrence (1863) killed ~150 men and boys. The conflict was a prelude to and continued through the Civil War. The aftermath shaped land use, demographics, and political identity in the metro for generations.

The corporate version (2009-2019, with a 2019 truce)

From roughly the late 2000s, both states aggressively offered tax incentives to lure companies across State Line Road. Companies would move literally across the street to collect a multi-year tax break, then sometimes move back when the break expired. Studies estimated the two states lost hundreds of millions in collective revenue without creating net new jobs. In 2019, both governors signed a truce limiting cross-border incentive use in the metro counties.

The truce remains in effect as of 2026. But the pattern of using tax incentives — TIF districts, abatements, CIDs — to subsidize private development continues within each state.

Free tax preparation