If you live outside St. Louis or Kansas City, Missouri, work for an employer in the city, and spend some days working from home, there is a good chance you are paying more city earnings tax than you owe. Employers normally withhold 1% of all your pay. The law only taxes nonresidents on work done inside the city.
The difference is refundable, but neither city sends it automatically. You have to ask for it each year.
Who qualifies
You can claim a refund if all of these are true:
- You don't live in the city. Residents owe 1% on all their earnings, wherever they work. For St. Louis, that means the City of St. Louis; suburbs in St. Louis County are outside it. For Kansas City, it means Kansas City, Missouri; Overland Park, Olathe and the rest of Johnson County, Kansas are outside it.
- Your employer withheld the 1% earnings tax. Check box 19 of your W-2 for the local tax withheld and box 20 for the city name.
- You worked whole days outside the city. Remote days at home, business travel, conferences and days at a client site outside the city all count.
The whole-day rule
Both cities count only whole days worked outside the city. If you start your day at the downtown office and finish at home, or log in from home and then go in for an afternoon meeting, that day is a city day. Half-days don't reduce the tax.
What goes in the total differs slightly:
- St. Louis uses a standard work year of 260 days (52 weeks of five days), adjusted if you worked more or fewer days or moved during the year.
- Kansas City counts only days you actually worked. Vacation, sick days and holidays are left out of both the total and the outside-the-city count.
How much you could get back
Your refund is roughly:
wages × (days outside ÷ total days) × 1%
For a St. Louis commuter on a 260-day year whose employer withheld 1% of all wages:
| Annual wages |
1 day a week remote |
2 days |
3 days |
Fully remote |
| $60,000 |
$120 |
$240 |
$360 |
$600 |
| $80,000 |
$160 |
$320 |
$480 |
$800 |
| $100,000 |
$200 |
$400 |
$600 |
$1,000 |
A Kansas City example works the same way with actual days. Someone earning $80,000 who worked 230 days (after 30 days of leave) and spent 92 of them at home in Kansas has 40% of their days outside the city. They owe $480 rather than $800, so the refund is $320.
These are modest sums each year, but they repeat. A hybrid worker on $80,000 who never claims is giving up around $320 a year. You can check your own figures with the St. Louis and Kansas City earnings tax calculator.
How to file in St. Louis
- Get Form E-1R, the nonresident refund request, from the Collector of Revenue's website.
- Enter your W-2 wages from box 1 and the tax withheld from box 19.
- Fill in your days: total work days and whole days worked outside the city, with the address of where you worked.
- Have your employer certify the days. The form has a section your employer must complete and sign. HR or payroll usually handles this.
- Send it by April 15 for the previous year, by mail, email or fax. St. Louis does not allow individual extensions.
File one E-1R for each W-2 year you are claiming.
How to file in Kansas City
- Complete Form RD-109, the wage earner return, and attach Schedule RD-109NR, the nonresident schedule. Both can be done through the city's online Quick Tax portal.
- Enter total days worked and days worked outside the city. Leave out vacation, sick and holiday days from both.
- List the records you keep for days outside the city. You don't have to send them with the return, but the city can ask for them, and employer verification is required.
- File by April 15. Kansas City has its own extension form, RD-112, if you need more time.
Records to keep
Refunds depend on proving the days. Useful records include:
- A calendar or spreadsheet marking each remote day, kept as you go
- Your employer's remote or hybrid work policy or agreement
- Building badge or parking records showing office days
- Travel itineraries and expense reports for business trips
The easiest approach is to agree on your remote days with your manager at the start of the year and ask HR how they handle certification.
Ask your employer to fix the withholding
If you work remotely on a regular schedule, you can ask your employer to withhold earnings tax only on your city days. That puts the money in your paycheck instead of waiting for a refund. Employers have a reason to cooperate: some city payroll taxes on employers are also based on where the work is done.
The tax isn't going away
Missouri law requires both cities to ask voters every five years whether to keep the tax. On April 7, 2026, voters renewed it in both St. Louis (about 85% in favour) and Kansas City (about 75%). The 1% rate is set to continue through at least 2031, so it is worth getting the refund process right.