143.191. Employer to withhold tax from wages--armed services, withholding from wages or retirement--federal civil service retirement, withholding authorized, when. - Missouri Statutes

Employer to withhold tax from wages--armed services, withholding fromwages or retirement--federal civil service retirement, withholdingauthorized, when.

143.191. 1. Every employer maintaining an office ortransacting any business within this state and making payment ofany wages taxable under sections 143.011 to 143.998 to a residentor nonresident individual shall deduct and withhold from suchwages for each payroll period the amount provided in subsection 3of this section.

2. The term "wages" referred to in subsection 1 of thissection means wages as defined by section 3401(a) of the InternalRevenue Code of 1986, as amended. The term "employer" means anyperson, firm, corporation, association, fiduciary of any kind, orother type of organization for whom an individual performsservice as an employee, except that if the person or organizationfor whom the individual performs service does not have control ofthe payment of compensation for such service, the term "employer"means the person having control of the payment of thecompensation. The term includes the United States, this state,other states, and all agencies, instrumentalities, andsubdivisions of any of them.

3. The method of determining the amount to be withheldshall be prescribed by regulations of the director of revenue.The prescribed table, percentages, or other method shall result,so far as practicable, in withholding from the employee's wagesduring each calendar year an amount substantially equivalent tothe tax reasonably estimated to be due from the employee undersections 143.011 to 143.998 with respect to the amount of suchwages included in his Missouri adjusted gross income during thecalendar year.

4. For purposes of this section an employee shall beentitled to the same number of personal and dependencywithholding exemptions as the number of exemptions to which he isentitled for federal income tax withholding purposes. Anemployer may rely upon the number of federal withholdingexemptions claimed by the employee, except where the employeeprovides the employer with a form claiming a different number ofwithholding exemptions in this state.

5. The director of revenue may enter into agreements withthe tax departments of other states (which require income tax tobe withheld from the payment of wages) so as to govern theamounts to be withheld from the wages of residents of such statesunder this section. Such agreements may provide for recognitionof anticipated tax credits in determining the amounts to bewithheld and, under regulations prescribed by the director ofrevenue, may relieve employers in this state from withholdingincome tax on wages paid to nonresident employees. Theagreements authorized by this subsection are subject to thecondition that the tax department of such other states grantsimilar treatment to residents of this state.

6. The director of revenue shall enter into agreements withthe Secretary of the Treasury of the United States or with theappropriate secretaries of the respective branches of the armedforces of the United States for the withholding, as required bysubsections 1 and 2 of this section, of income taxes due thestate of Missouri on wages or other payments for service in thearmed services of the United States or on payments received asretirement or retainer pay of any member or former member of thearmed forces entitled to such pay.

7. Subject to appropriations for the purpose ofimplementing this section, the director of revenue shall complywith provisions of the laws of the United States as amended andthe regulations promulgated thereto in order that all residentsof this state receiving monthly retirement income as a civilservice annuitant from the federal government taxable by thisstate may have withheld monthly from any such moneys, whetherpension, annuities or otherwise, an amount for payment of stateincome taxes as required by state law, but such withholding shallnot be less than twenty-five dollars per quarter.

(L. 1972 S.B. 549, A.L. 1988 H.B. 1054, et al., A.L. 1990 H.B. 952, A.L. 1992 H.B. 915, A.L. 1994 S.B. 477, et al.)

Effective 12-31-94, and shall apply to all tax periods beginning on or after 1-1-95 (S.B. 477 § C, 1994)

CROSS REFERENCE:

Duties of employers and employees, withholding forms, RSMo 285.300