Motor Vehicle Sales Tax

State Law

The state department distributes an allocation of the state 3% sales tax collected statewide on motor vehicle to each city and county. By law, 50% of all proceeds is dedicated to highway and transportation use.  This comes from the state sales tax on:

  • Mopeds
  • Motor vehicles
  • Motorcycles
  • Motor Tricycles
  • Trailers

This is distributed as: 

  • 10% Counties
  • 15% Cities
  • 75% State

This is done according to Article IV, Section 30(b) of the Constitution of the State of Missouri (PDF)

City Allocation

Cities receive their allocation of the 3% state sales tax on motor vehicles based on population. The last federal decennial census is used for this calculation.

County Allocation

Counties receive their allocation of the 3% state sales tax on motor vehicles based 50% on road mileage percentage and 50% on rural land valuation.