CPA for Kansas City, MO and KS Clients: Remote Tax, Payroll and Accounting

If you live or work in the Kansas City area, you work with us remotely: we are a Naperville, Illinois CPA firm with no office in Missouri or Kansas. The state line runs through the metro area, so a household can live in Johnson County, Kansas, work in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and file in both states. Kansas City, Missouri adds a 1% earnings tax, and the two sides run property tax appeals on different calendars.

The Kansas City earnings tax for commuters and remote workers

Employers should withhold the 1% tax if you work in Kansas City, Missouri. The city says you do not need to file when Box 19 of your W-2 equals 1% of Box 1. Nonresident taxpayers complete Form RD-109NR, which needs the employer's signature and supporting documents. The form assumes a standard work year of 260 days, with exceptions for part-time employees, flex-time employees and partial-year residents. If any part of a day is worked inside the city, the city does not count that day as worked outside it.

Remote work creates its own obligations. The city says a business with even a single employee working from a home office in Kansas City, Missouri is subject to local taxes: the profits tax, earnings tax withholding and business licensing. If the only activity is remote workers, one license is required however many workers there are.

Nonqualified stock options are subject to the tax, based on your residency status and the percentage of days worked inside the city between the grant and exercise dates, and severance pay counts as earnings. Our stock options and RSUs guide covers the federal side. Retirement income from qualified plans such as 401(k) and 457(b) plans, Social Security and unemployment benefits are not subject to the tax.

For tax years beginning with 2022, refund requests must be filed by the 15th day of the fourth month after the tax year ends, with six more months if a valid extension was filed.

One commute, two state returns

Kansas treats anyone who lives in Kansas as a resident regardless of where they work, and a nonresident with Kansas-source income must file a Kansas return regardless of the amount. The 2025 Kansas return was due April 15, 2026, and a single Kansas resident under 65 had to file at $12,765 of gross income.

The credit is the key to avoiding double tax. Kansas says the tax paid to another state includes tax paid to any local political subdivision, so a Kansas resident working in Kansas City, Missouri should complete the earnings tax return and attach it to the Kansas return along with the Missouri return. W-2 forms do not substitute. The credit is not the amount withheld. It is the smaller of the tax actually paid to the other jurisdiction and the Kansas tax multiplied by the share of income earned there.

Missouri works from the other direction. A Missouri resident who also pays Kansas tax claims Form MO-CR, which covers taxes paid to other states or political subdivisions, and a Kansas resident who works in Missouri generally files as a nonresident using the Missouri income percentage on Form MO-NRI. Missouri's pending November 3, 2026 ballot carries Amendment 7, a proposed endowment fund meant to eventually replace state-imposed taxes, with no immediate tax impact according to its ballot summary. The only Kansas statewide amendment on that ballot concerns voter citizenship, not taxes.

Property appeals on both sides

Johnson County values property as of January 1 and mails Notices of Appraised Value on or before March 1. The appeal deadline is 30 days after the mailing date. You get one protest per tax year: either an informal appeal or a payment under protest. For the informal appeal you choose a hearing based on evidence alone, a 20-minute phone call or a 20-minute in-person meeting. If you disagree with the result, you have 30 days from the mailing date to go to the State Board of Tax Appeals, whose Small Claims Division uses a 20 to 30 minute hearing with a decision mailed within 30 days.

Jackson County works differently. Its appeal window for 2026 ran from May 1 to the second Monday in July, July 13, 2026, and no application is accepted by email or fax. The Board of Equalization decides market value as of January 1 and can increase, decrease or leave the value unchanged, so an appeal is not risk-free. It looks at value, not the tax amount. Useful evidence includes a certified appraisal or a sales contract with a settlement statement, and the board does not consider evidence shown on an electronic device at the hearing. Hearings are by telephone.

The Indian-American community and US-India tax

The community is concentrated on the Kansas side. Johnson County, Kansas has about 14,600 residents (2.4%) who identify as Asian Indian alone or in any combination, compared with about 3,000 (0.4%) in Jackson County, Missouri, and the metro area totals about 21,100 (1.0%) (American Community Survey, 2020 to 2024). The state line also divides consular jurisdictions: the Embassy of India's list effective July 15, 2025 puts Missouri under the Consulate General in Chicago and Kansas under the Consulate General in Houston.

Topics for households that file in both states:

• Splitting a sale of property in India between two state returns.
• Reporting rental income from India.
• Whether an EPF balance must be reported on the FBAR or Form 8938.
• How a PFIC in an Indian mutual fund affects each return.

How we can help

Our remote service for Kansas City households covers the federal, Missouri, Kansas and Kansas City returns, the credit worksheet that ties them together, and evidence packages for property appeals. Employers with staff on both sides can use us for payroll and bookkeeping, and anyone can bring IRS notices or India reporting. Where Missouri or Kansas law calls for a local license or professional, we will say so.

Frequently asked questions

General information only, not tax, legal or accounting advice for your situation. Rules, limits and deadlines change; confirm the current rules with the official source or a qualified professional before you act. Reading this page does not create a professional relationship with CPA Tax Payroll and Accounting Corp.