Reference, not legal advice. Statutes change. Every section below carries a last-verified date and a primary-source citation. Verify against current statute for any decision with legal consequences.
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 542.402 is a one-party consent statute for recording communications. Employer call monitoring where any participant consents is lawful. No general electronic-monitoring notice statute applies.
Missouri starts from federal AGI and does not restore the suspended W-2 unreimbursed-employee-business-expense deduction. The St. Louis (Form E-1) and Kansas City (Form RD-109) 1% earnings taxes apply to compensation earned while physically working inside the city, fully remote nonresidents typically owe no city earnings tax and can file for a refund of withheld amounts, but the cities tightened nonresident refund rules in recent years; confirm current refund policy.
State top marginal rate is 4.95%. Critically for remote workers, both St. Louis and Kansas City impose a 1% local earnings tax on residents and on nonresidents earning wages from work performed within the city, a remote worker who lives or telecommutes into either city should confirm earnings-tax exposure with the city collector of revenue.
At-will employment: Missouri is an at-will employment state with limited public-policy and statutory exceptions.
Missouri remote-work activity concentrates in St. Louis and adjacent metros, with Centene, Edward Jones, Cerner (Oracle Health) among the larger remote-friendly headquarters. State-level BLS Telework Supplement micro-data was not retrievable at verification time; the national figure (~19-23% any-telework) is the closest available baseline.
Top remote-hub metro: St. Louis
Notable remote-work employers headquartered in Missouri:
Our sister site CeoCult covers the federal + Missouri home-office tax deduction methodology in detail, including IRS Form 8829, the simplified $5/sq ft method, and the state-specific quirks for Missouri filers.
Pre-filled for Missouri tax brackets. Compares the IRS simplified method ($5/sq ft) against the actual-expense method (Form 8829) and shows the federal + state tax savings.
Frequently asked questions about remote work in Missouri
Does my Missouri employer have to reimburse my home internet for remote work?
No Missouri statute requires it. Federal FLSA only requires reimbursement to the extent unreimbursed costs would drop wages below the minimum wage.
Can my Missouri employer monitor my email without telling me?
Yes on employer-owned systems. Missouri has no electronic-monitoring notice statute, and voice calls are governed by the one-party consent rule in § 542.402.
Are home-office stipends taxable in Missouri?
Flat stipends are taxable wages for state income tax and may also be subject to the 1% earnings tax if you live in or work into St. Louis or Kansas City. Accountable-plan reimbursements are excluded from federal AGI and flow through as non-income in Missouri.