Employers carry one-fourth of tax burden

For fiscal year 2004, employers paid 27.2 percent, or $2.1 billion, of $7.6 billion paid in state taxes.

Employer and individual income taxes combined produced more than half of the tax revenue from all sources last year, pulling in more than $4 billion. Of that revenue, employers paid about $565 million, or 14 percent.

Corporation taxes made up most of employer contributions, but small- and medium-sized businesses contributed their share to individual income tax returns. Sole proprietors, partners and S-corporation shareholders paid about 7 percent of all individual taxes.

Missouri employers’ contributions have steadily increased since 2001 when they paid 25.6 percent, but the current percentage is still lower than a decade ago when employers’ share topped 28.5 percent.