Taxes

12 St. Louis Food and Drink Deals and Freebies for Tax Day

Today is Tax Day, also known as mass chaos at the Springfield Post Office Day. Whether today finds you scrambling to get your info in order or basking in the smug satisfaction of submitting your taxes weeks ago, there is a reward: food and drink deals at restaurants across the St. Louis area. Once ... More >>

Former St. Louisan Charged as Ring Leader of Identity Theft Operation

You may recall Patrina Taylor, the Creve Coeur Williams who tried to use a dead person's IRS tax refund check to take the cash for herself. Well, the feds now believe she was merely one "cooperator" in a larger identity theft ring, run by a former St. Louisan living in the South. Tania Henderson, a ... More >>

GOP State Senator Rob Schaaf on Missouri's Obamacare Deadline: "Deadline Schmedline."

November 16, folks. That's the deadline for Missouri to decide whether our state government will set up the "insurance exchange" required by the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare), or whether the feds will swoop in and set it up for us. It's only one week away, so Daily RFT called Republican sta ... More >>

Mizzou Report Shows that Missourians Are Absolutely Average

If you get excited about lists comparing states to one another -- as Daily RFT does -- then now is time to rejoice. David C. Valentine, director of the Missouri Legislative Academy at the Truman School of Public Affairs at the University of Missouri has concocted the mother of all lists, Snapshot M ... More >>

Amended Illinois Strip Club Tax Passed by Senate Committee

It's not a law yet, but the Illinois Senate Public Health Committee unanimously passed an amended version of Sen. Toi Hutchinson's (D-Chicago Heights) "skin tax" bill. Rather than the originally proposed $5 per patron charge (with the money collected going to fund rape crisis centers) Illinois strip ... More >>

When I.R.S. Means I'm Really Starving: Where to Find Food Specials on Tax Day

Today is tax day. Normally it's April 15, but because it fell on a Sunday this year, Americans have an additional two days to get their shit together. If you're responsible and not scrambling a la the people of Springfield, then you have one more reason to be happy today: As usual, in honor of tax d ... More >>

Tobacco Tax Campaign Has Become a Pile-On

Image viaLotta butts in this campaign​Right now, all kinds of folks are clamoring for an increase in Missouri's tobacco tax -- at 17 cents per pack, the lowest in the nation. Yet so far, nobody's pulling in exactly the same direction.   Yesterday, state Representative Mary Still, a Democ ... More >>

Fight Over Missouri's Cigarette Tax Heats Up; Lung Association Gives State Failing Grade

​Missouri received its annual report card last week from the American Lung Association. The result ain't pretty. The state earned an "F" for tobacco prevention and control (spending just $58,693 last year to prevent tobacco use statewide); an "F" for smoke-free air (with legislators refusing to pa ... More >>

Lawsuit Filed Against Latest "Fair Tax" Proposals

Lawuit: Ballot language provides bad road map for voters.​Missourians for Fair Taxation last week filed a lawsuit attempting to change the ballot language for two recent proposals that will ask voters to eliminate state income tax in favor of higher sales taxes in Missouri.The group -- composed of ... More >>

Under Fire, City Warms Up to Private Rehabbers

​Last spring, two big cannonballs were lobbed at the city's mechanism for handling properties that have fallen through the cracks and into the public hands. The first blow landed on April 19. That was the day  Audrey Spalding of the Show-Me Institute, a conservative think-tank, released her o ... More >>

Drury Hotel in Chesterfield Loses Five-Year-Old Tax Appeal

Death and taxes: Drury learned this one the hard way.​When St. Louis County assessed Chesterfield's new Drury Plaza Hotel at $23.1 million in 2006, even though the hotel had not yet opened, the owners cried foul. The St. Louis-based company proffered its own appraisal of the property -- this one s ... More >>

Governor Nixon Toys With City's Hopes for Local Control in Special Session

Will Governor Nixon throw St. Louis a bone this September?​On Wednesday, Mayor Francis Slay wrote on his blog and the Post-Dispatch reported that a bill to bring local control to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department would be included in the special session now being planned for Septemb ... More >>

Reports: Legislative Leaders Approve Subsidies for China Hub

Legislators make the numbers add up.​Word is that Republican leaders in the Missouri House and Senate have hammered out a deal to provide $360 million in tax credits to subsidize construction and flights for a proposed cargo hub at Lambert St. Louis International Airport. The full legislature woul ... More >>

John Steffen Re-Indicted; Feds Claim St. Louis Developer Defrauded Bank

In 2007, John Steffen (far left) and another developer, Craig Heller, received recognition from First Lady Laura Bush.​Nine months after a court dismissed a federal indictment against John Steffen, the U.S. Attorney's office is again filing charges against the developer, who's best known for trans ... More >>

Cinnabon Gives a Free Sugar Boost on Tax Day

Cinnabon​ Tax Day - even with a few buffer days because who in the world can turn in their taxes on a Friday? That's practically, almost the weekend! - is so stressful. Especially for people who've waited until the very last minute to file. To reward poor time management, mall-based Cinnabon ... More >>

Mayday McCaskill Caught in a Tailspin Over Private Plane

Look, I can explain. I was suffering altitude sickness.​A once high-flying Missouri politician plummeted to Earth yesterday. The only question now: Can she survive the wreckage?  Claire McCaskill's reputation took perhaps its biggest hit in her nearly five years in the U.S. Senate on Mo ... More >>

Comment of the Day: McCaskill as Tax Imposer

Today's comment comes in response to an article on how Missouri's Democratic senator, Claire McCaskill, recently acknowledged that she'd failed to pay personal property taxes on her private airplane. In responding to a McCaskill supporter, commenter "Hector Garbanzo" let loose this impressive screed ... More >>

Missouri Latest State to Push for Online Sales Tax

Local retailers want to wipe that smug smile off those Amazon.com boxes. ​Two state representatives held a press conference today in the University City Loop, calling attention to legislation that would add sales tax to purchases Missouri residents make over the Internet. State representativ ... More >>

Rex Sinquefield's Placement on St. Louis Art Museum Board Violates Law

Sinquefield: Francis Slay has his back on museum placement.​The Post-Dispatch this morning follows up on a story Daily RFT broke months ago. That's the fact that Rex Sinquefield, the financier who spent $11 million to get a recall of St. Louis' earnings tax on next month's ballot, is not registere ... More >>

Comment of the Day: "Living in Civilization Costs Money"

Today's comment of the day comes in response to Chad Garrison's post about a Fenton man who wants to do away with the state's personal property tax -- which Garrison compared to billionaire financier Rex Sinquefield, who's trying to eliminate the earnings taxes in St. Louis and Kansas City.As "J. Br ... More >>

Board of Aldermen Turn up the Heat

​Today's Board of Aldermen meeting kicked off with a complimentary Christmas concert by the Rosati-Kain High School choir. After the warblers finished their hymns about a poor baby shivering in a chilly night, the city's lawmakers voted to help ensure St. Louis children never go to bed cold. Coin ... More >>

Hearings This Morning on St. Louis Casino Proposals

A rendering of Casino Celebration at I-270 and Riverview.​Got anything to say in support or opposition to two casino proposals currently under consideration in St. Louis? Then head on down to the Renaissance Hotel at the airport a.s.a.p. That's where the Missouri Gaming Commission is holding heari ... More >>

St. Louis Named 11th-Worst City for Sales Tax

It adds up.​Another day, another city-ranking listing St. Louis as the worst city for __________ (insert blank). Today's survey comes from the website Business Insider that names St. Louis as one of the "15 Cities with Ridiculously High Sales Tax."St. Louis ranks in at No. 11 according to Business ... More >>

John Steffen: Owner of Pyramid Construction Indicted for Fraud

One of the St. Louis' biggest downtown developers of the past decade was indicted this morning on federal fraud charges.georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.govJohn Steffen (left) and fellow St. Louis developer Craig Heller receive a preservation award from Laura Bush in May 2007.​The United States Att ... More >>

Missouri's Sales Tax Holiday Begins Today; Don't Pay Tax on Clothes, Computers

'Cause really, this is what the Tea Party was all about.​Rejoice ye patriots! Today through Sunday in the land of Missouri back-to-school shoppers can free thyselves from the shackles of government tyranny. That's right, this weekend is Missouri's sales tax holiday for "school" goods, such as clot ... More >>

Missouri Legislators Approve Tax Break for Ford -- Let's Hope Governor Nixon is Right

Missouri showers Ford -- in a good way.​In the end Governor Jay Nixon got his way. His special-session bill to provide nearly $150-million in tax giveaways to Ford Motor Co. and its suppliers overcame rounds of criticism and a 20-hour filibuster yesterday with Missouri legislators finally approvin ... More >>

Last Refuge of the Penny-Pinching Smoker: Missouri!

Image viaCheap cheap! Gummed lungs!​On July 1, Missouri will have the cheapest smokes in the entire U.S. of A.Previously, only South Carolina's excise tax was lower. But last month, lawmakers there voted to increase it to 57 cents per pack. In Missouri, the bargain basement ciggie tax is still at ... More >>

Local Producers the Trak Starz Charged With Allegedly Failing to File Federal Income Taxes

Jennifer SilverbergThe Trak Starz in 2004​Shamar Daugherty and Alonzo Lee -- a.k.a. the Trak Starz, one of the city's most-decorated and prolific hip-hop/pop production teams -- have been charged with "allegedly failing to file federal income taxes," according to the Post-Dispatch. Yesterday, ... More >>

Mustache Institute Demands Tax Break for Lip Hair

In an eleventh-hour move, the St. Louis-based American Mustache Institute today (Tax Day Eve) rolled out an initiative calling on the federal government to allow deductions for mustache wearers. The group is asking for a $250 tax break, which is what it says mustached men (and women), must spend eac ... More >>

Future of St. Louis Public Transportation Up for Vote Today

Will Metro make it this time?​Voters in St. Louis County today will be asked to approve a half-cent sales tax hike for Metro. If approved, Proposition A would also trigger quarter-cent tax increase in the city. All told, the tax hike would raise $70-$80 million a year for Metro, which plans to use ... More >>

Hey St. Louis, About That Billionaire Knocking on Your Door...

​Attention St. Louis City residents: If this guy knocks on your door in the next few weeks, don't worry. He's not -- we repeat not -- a Jehovah's Witness. Though he is attempting to convert you. His name is Rex Sinquefield, and he wants your help eliminating the city's 1 percent earnings tax. Sinq ... More >>

FoodWire: Tax-Day Specials at McCormick & Schmick's

New seafood restaurant McCormick & Schmick's (17 West County Center) is offering special deals to ease the pain of tax day. Some menu items will cost only $10.40, and diners will receive a coupon for $10.40 toward a future visit to the restaurant. 

When Happy Apples Go Bad; No Tax Credits For You!

flickr.com/photos/uibriainWho says Missouri Department of Economic Development director Linda Martinez is soft on immigration? For the first time ever, Martinez's agency has stripped a local business of tax credits for having once employed "illegal aliens."Federal court records show that Joette Reid ... More >>

Thompson Coburn Law Firm to Stay Downtown

No deadbeats here: A Cardinals exec steps up to the plate regarding the team's tax issues

Grudge City

O’Fallon, Missouri: Home to petty feuds, poisonous politics – and prickly postcards.

Taxing Conversation

Hell No, We Won't Go!

A south St. Louis neighborhood raises a ruckus over plans to demolish homes for a shopping center

Late Fee

Mayor's office goes to bat for Bell but gets shut down by Darlene Green

Dollar for Dollar

The politics of Vince Schoemehl's fundraiser for Frankie the Saint

Numbers Game

Tax exemption for fat cats is the only issue Shrewsbury and Krewson won't talk about

There's No Place as Bad as This Home

Assessment flap doesn't bode well for the county's ambience

Ballpark Pillage

Proposed Cardinals boondoggle gives new meaning to fuzzy math

The Health (Club) Menace

Competition is healthy for the marketplace -- except when the government tips the scales

Base Motives

Well-heeled cities and developers keep TIF reform at bay

Wages of the City

Even if the living-wage proposal passes, don't look for any drastic changes for many St. Louisans eking out a living on minimum pay

Hand-Me-Down District

After 32 years, Bill Clay is retiring from his congressional seat. He wants to leave it to his son, but a crowded, eccentric field of candidates is contesting the will.

NO MERCY FOR THE KIRKWOOD SCHOOLS

DES PERES HAS GONE MAD.
BUT DON'T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT.