Bill seeks to lower Missouri’s business filing fees

A bill prefiled before this week’s start of the Missouri General Assembly’s regular session seeks to reduce or eliminate several of the state’s business filing fees.

Filed by Rep. John McCaherty, R-Murphy, the proposed legislation would remove the processing fee required when registering a new business with the Missouri secretary of state’s office. Additionally, the bill would simplify the creation and maintenance of business entities, including limited liability corporations, partnership, corporations and nonprofits, according to a news release.

“With this legislation, we have the potential to save Missouri businesses approximately $6 million each year, and we can help to put the focus of employers on growing their businesses and creating jobs rather than dealing with burdensome forms and fees,” McCaherty said in the release.

According to the secretary of state’s website, business filing fees range from $10 to $155.

The representative filed similar legislation last session but the bill ran out of time in the Senate, according to the release.

The General Assembly’s new session begins Jan. 6.