Cannabis Business Times
by Melissa Schiller
12 July 2021

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson vetoed a bill July 9 that would have provided tax relief legislation for medical cannabis businesses.

S.B. 226 would have allowed the state’s licensed medical cannabis businesses to deduct business expenses on their state income taxes. Specifically, businesses would have been able “to claim an income tax deduction in an amount equal to any expenditures otherwise allowable as a federal income tax deduction, but that are disallowed for federal purposes because cannabis is a controlled substance under federal law,” according to the legislation.

Parson did not specifically mention the cannabis provisions in his letter announcing the veto, according to The Missouri Independent, but indicated that he rejected the bill due to a section that would have provided tax relief for businesses affected by city-wide or county-wide public health restrictions.