135.010. Definitions.
Definitions.
135.010. As used in sections 135.010 to 135.030 the following wordsand terms mean:
(1) "Claimant", a person or persons claiming a credit under sections135.010 to 135.030. If the persons are eligible to file a joint federalincome tax return and reside at the same address at any time during thetaxable year, then the credit may only be allowed if claimed on a combinedMissouri income tax return or a combined claim return reporting theircombined incomes and property taxes. A claimant shall not be allowed aproperty tax credit unless the claimant or spouse has attained the age ofsixty-five on or before the last day of the calendar year and the claimantor spouse was a resident of Missouri for the entire year, or the claimantor spouse is a veteran of any branch of the armed forces of the UnitedStates or this state who became one hundred percent disabled as a result ofsuch service, or the claimant or spouse is disabled as defined insubdivision (2) of this section, and such claimant or spouse provides proofof such disability in such form and manner, and at such times, as thedirector of revenue may require, or if the claimant has reached the age ofsixty on or before the last day of the calendar year and such claimantreceived surviving spouse Social Security benefits during the calendar yearand the claimant provides proof, as required by the director of revenue,that the claimant received surviving spouse Social Security benefits duringthe calendar year for which the credit will be claimed. A claimant shallnot be allowed a property tax credit if the claimant filed a valid claimfor a credit under section 137.106, RSMo, in the year following the yearfor which the property tax credit is claimed. The residency requirementshall be deemed to have been fulfilled for the purpose of determining theeligibility of a surviving spouse for a property tax credit if a person ofthe age of sixty-five years or older who would have otherwise met therequirements for a property tax credit dies before the last day of thecalendar year. The residency requirement shall also be deemed to have beenfulfilled for the purpose of determining the eligibility of a claimant whowould have otherwise met the requirements for a property tax credit but whodies before the last day of the calendar year;
(2) "Disabled", the inability to engage in any substantial gainfulactivity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mentalimpairment which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted orcan be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than twelvemonths. A claimant shall not be required to be gainfully employed prior tosuch disability to qualify for a property tax credit;
(3) "Gross rent", amount paid by a claimant to a landlord for therental, at arm's length, of a homestead during the calendar year, exclusiveof charges for health and personal care services and food furnished as partof the rental agreement, whether or not expressly set out in the rentalagreement. If the director of revenue determines that the landlord andtenant have not dealt at arm's length, and that the gross rent isexcessive, then he shall determine the gross rent based upon a reasonableamount of rent. Gross rent shall be deemed to be paid only if actuallypaid prior to the date a return is filed. The director of revenue mayprescribe regulations requiring a return of information by a landlordreceiving rent, certifying for a calendar year the amount of gross rentreceived from a tenant claiming a property tax credit and shall, byregulation, provide a method for certification by the claimant of theamount of gross rent paid for any calendar year for which a claim is made.The regulations authorized by this subdivision may require a landlord or atenant or both to provide data relating to health and personal careservices and to food. Neither a landlord nor a tenant may be required toprovide data relating to utilities, furniture, home furnishings orappliances;
(4) "Homestead", the dwelling in Missouri owned or rented by theclaimant and not to exceed five acres of land surrounding it as isreasonably necessary for use of the dwelling as a home. It may consist ofpart of a multidwelling or multipurpose building and part of the land uponwhich it is built. "Owned" includes a vendee in possession under a landcontract and one or more tenants by the entireties, joint tenants, ortenants in common and includes a claimant actually in possession if he wasthe immediate former owner of record, if a lineal descendant is presentlythe owner of record, and if the claimant actually pays all taxes upon theproperty. It may include a mobile home;
(5) "Income", Missouri adjusted gross income as defined in section143.121, RSMo, less two thousand dollars, or in the case of a homesteadowned and occupied, for the entire year, by the claimant, less fourthousand dollars as an exemption for the claimant's spouse residing at thesame address, and increased, where necessary, to reflect the following:
(a) Social Security, railroad retirement, and veterans payments andbenefits unless the claimant is a one hundred percent service-connected,disabled veteran or a spouse of a one hundred percent service-connected,disabled veteran. The one hundred percent service-connected disabledveteran shall not be required to list veterans payments and benefits;
(b) The total amount of all other public and private pensions andannuities;
(c) Public relief, public assistance, and unemployment benefitsreceived in cash, other than benefits received under this chapter;
(d) No deduction being allowed for losses not incurred in a trade orbusiness;
(e) Interest on the obligations of the United States, any state, orany of their subdivisions and instrumentalities;
(6) "Property taxes accrued", property taxes paid, exclusive ofspecial assessments, penalties, interest, and charges for service levied ona claimant's homestead in any calendar year. Property taxes shall qualifyfor the credit only if actually paid prior to the date a return is filed.The director of revenue shall require a tax receipt or other proof ofproperty tax payment. If a homestead is owned only partially by claimant,then "property taxes accrued" is that part of property taxes levied on thehomestead which was actually paid by the claimant. For purposes of thissubdivision, property taxes are "levied" when the tax roll is delivered tothe director of revenue for collection. If a claimant owns a homesteadpart of the preceding calendar year and rents it or a different homesteadfor part of the same year, "property taxes accrued" means only taxes leviedon the homestead both owned and occupied by the claimant, multiplied by thepercentage of twelve months that such property was owned and occupied asthe homestead of the claimant during the year. When a claimant owns andoccupies two or more different homesteads in the same calendar year,property taxes accrued shall be the sum of taxes allocable to those severalproperties occupied by the claimant as a homestead for the year. If ahomestead is an integral part of a larger unit such as a farm, ormultipurpose or multidwelling building, property taxes accrued shall bethat percentage of the total property taxes accrued as the value of thehomestead is of the total value. For purposes of this subdivision "unit"refers to the parcel of property covered by a single tax statement of whichthe homestead is a part;
(7) "Rent constituting property taxes accrued", twenty percent of thegross rent paid by a claimant and spouse in the calendar year.
(L. 1973 H.B. 149, et al. § 1, A.L. 1975 H.B. 121, et al., A.L. 1979 S.B. 247, et al., A.L. 1983 S.B. 47 & 29, A.L. 1988 S.B. 555, A.L. 1992 S.B. 797 merged with H.B. 1434 & 1490, A.L. 1994 H.B. 1745, A.L. 1996 H.B. 1098, A.L. 1998 S.B. 675, et al., A.L. 2005 H.B. 58 merged with H.B. 186 merged with H.B. 229 merged with H.B. 461, A.L. 2008 S.B. 711)