MISSOURI'S USE TAX EXPLAINED

The use tax in Missouri was a 1.5 percent tax levied on residents or businesses who bought products from other states and used them here.

That meant mail-order and television shopping businesses in other states had to pay 1.5 percent of every sale to the state of Missouri.

Some Missouri industries who bought raw materials from other states and processed them here had to pay the tax, too. Several factors dictated whether the industries would pay the use tax, including where the products were sent after completion.

Even the location in Missouri where products were delivered had an impact on how much use tax could be charged.

The state collected the money and used a formula to divide it between counties and cities. Now that the Missouri Supreme Court ended the tax, those counties and cities may have to give the money back.

Most mail-order consumers never realized they were paying a use tax; it wasn't listed separately on forms, and companies probably incorporated the tax into product cost.