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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 2731
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE APPELBAUM.
4371H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o amend chapter 135, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to a tax credit for
the adoption of certain animals.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 135, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be
2 known as section 135.790, to read as follows:
135.790. 1. As used in this section, the following terms mean:
2 (1) "Animal", a living domesticated vertebrate other than a human being, not
3 including farm animals as defined under section 578.005;
4 (2) "Animal shelter", the same meaning given to such term under section
5 273.325;
6 (3) "Qualified amount", for any qualified pet adoption, the total amount of
7 moneys paid by a taxpayer to an animal shelter for such qualified pet adoption,
8 including any adoption fees and other associated medical and administrative costs, up to
9 one hundr ed twenty-five dollars;
10 (4) "Qualified pet adoption", any adoption by a taxpayer of an animal fro m an
11 animal shelter for the purpose of keeping such animal as a pet;
12 (5) "T ax cre dit", a credi t against the individual income tax otherwise due under
13 chapter 143, excluding withholding tax imposed under sections 143.191 to 143.265;
14 (6) "T axpayer", any individual subject to the state income tax imposed under
15 chapter 143.
16 2. For all tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2027, a taxpayer shall be
17 allowed to claim a tax cred it against the taxpayer's state tax liability for a qualified pet
EXPLANA TION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is
intended to be omitted from the law . Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language.
18 adoption made by the taxpayer during the tax year . The amount of any tax credit
19 claimed for a qualified pet adoption shall be equal to the qualified amount for such
20 qualified pet adoption.
21 3. A taxpayer shall not be allowed to claim mor e than two tax cr edits under this
22 section per tax year , re gardless of whether the taxpayer makes mor e than two qualified
23 pet adoptions during the tax year .
24 4. The animal shelter shall pr ovide a receipt to the taxpayer upon adoption, a
25 copy of which the taxpayer shall submit with the claim for tax cred its under this section
26 on a form and in such manner as the department may establish by rule.
27 5. The cumulative amount of tax cr edits allowed to all taxpayers under this
28 section shall not exceed five hundred thousand dollars per calendar year . If the amount
29 of tax cred its claimed in a calendar year under this section exceeds five hundr ed
30 thousand dollars, tax cr edits shall be allowed based on the order in which they are
31 claimed.
32 6. T ax credits issued under the prov isions of this section shall be refu ndable. No
33 tax credi t claimed under this section shall be assigned, transferred , sold, or otherwise
34 conveyed. No tax credit claimed under this section shall be carried forward to any
35 subsequent tax year .
36 7. (1) A taxpayer shall forfeit any tax cr edits issued to such taxpayer that have
37 not been redee med, or shall rep ay the amount of any tax cred its red eemed by such
38 taxpayer in the event the adopted animal is retu rned, abused, rel eased, sold, killed, fed
39 to a pet carnivore, or otherwise not cared for by the taxpayer , except in cases of humane
40 killing as defined under section 578.005, but not including the part of that definition that
41 considers animals killed during the feeding of pet carnivor es to be humanely killed.
42 (2) The department may verify the adoption status with the animal shelter and
43 citations or other r ecords of abuse or neglect of the adopted animal with the local animal
44 contr ol or other applicable authorities and may req uest any other information or
45 documentation fro m the taxpayer as necessary to verify the good faith adoption and
46 wellbeing of the adopted animal at the time of the cred it application.
47 8. Notwithstanding any pro vision of section 105.1500 to the contrary , any
48 r equir ement to pr ovide information, documents, or rec ords under this section, and any
49 r equirement established by the department of r evenue to pro vide information,
50 documents, or record s for the purpose of administering and enfor cing this section,
51 shall be exempt fr om the prov isions of section 105.1500.
52 9. The department of rev enue shall pr omulgate all necessary rules and
53 r egulations to administer the pr ovisions of this section. Any rule or portion of a rule, as
54 that term is defined in section 536.010, that is creat ed under the authority delegated in
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55 this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the
56 pr ovisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section 536.028. This section and chapter
57 536 are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly
58 pursuant to chapter 536 to revi ew , to delay the effective date, or to disappr ove and annul
59 a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority
60 and any rule prop osed or adopted after August 28, 2026, shall be invalid and void.
61 10. Under section 23.253 of the Missouri sunset act:
62 (1) The pr ovisions of this section shall sunset six years after the effective date of
63 this section unless r eauthorized by an act of the general assembly;
64 (2) This section shall terminate on September first of the calendar year
65 immediately following the calendar year in which the pr ovisions of this section are
66 sunset; and
67 (3) Nothing in this subsection shall prev ent a taxpayer fr om claiming a tax credit
68 pr operly issued before this pr ogram was sunset in a tax year after the prog ram is sunset.
✔
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