Want to Help Science Start-ups? Cut Their Taxes. While We're At It, Cut Everyone's.
The Missouri Supreme Court agreed with a lower court that the Missouri Science and Innovation Reinvestment Act, or MOSIRA, had been enacted unconstitutionally. The program offered incentives to technology companies, but lawmakers had made its implementation contingent on passage of a broader tax-credit package that never became law.
The irony was that MOSIRA's fate had been tied to the same 2011 tax-credit legislation that included the controversial Aerotropolis proposal. When that larger package failed, MOSIRA's unusual contingency language ultimately helped sink it as well.
There is a simpler way to encourage science start-ups without creating special tax preferences or inviting fights over who qualifies. Missouri could reduce or eliminate business taxation broadly. Instead of selecting favored industries and firms, the state could tell every business—existing or prospective—that investment in Missouri will face a lower tax burden.
A neutral, pro-growth tax system would encourage diversification without making government responsible for picking winners and losers.
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