Missouri’s Income-Tax Elimination Amendment Goes Before Voters

Missouri voters will decide on August 4 whether to create a constitutional framework for phasing out and eventually eliminating the state’s individual income tax. Amendment 5 would also authorize broader sales and use taxes, loosen constitutional limits on taxing goods and services, and require certain local tax-rate cuts when local sales-tax revenue increases.

The measure would not end Missouri’s income tax immediately. If approved, lawmakers would have to carry out the phase-out through legislation tied to revenue growth. The amendment does not set the final tax rates, identify every good or service that could become taxable, or calculate the eventual effect on an individual household.

What Missouri voters are deciding

The Missouri Secretary of State has certified Amendment 5 for the August 4, 2026, primary election. Voters may choose a party ballot or request a nonpartisan ballot containing the constitutional amendments and other applicable ballot issues.

The official ballot language says a yes vote would require legislative phase-out and elimination of the individual state income tax based on revenue growth. It would also authorize expansion of sales and use taxes, curtail constitutional limits on taxing goods and services, and require local tax-rate cuts without reducing school funding if local sales-tax revenue increases.

That language establishes a process rather than an immediate tax repeal. Future lawmakers would still decide how to reduce the income tax, which additional goods or services to tax, and how to balance those changes against the state budget.

Why the tax tradeoff is unresolved

The amendment’s text gives the Legislature authority to impose sales taxes on a broader range of goods and services. Associated Press reporting says lawmakers would have five years to decide which additional sales could be taxed without returning the question to voters.

That authority could affect consumers differently from workers who currently pay individual income tax. Supporters, including Gov. Mike Kehoe, argue that eliminating the income tax could help Missouri compete for businesses and residents. Opponents argue that replacing income-tax revenue with broader sales taxes could shift more of the burden onto consumers, including people on fixed incomes.

Those are competing policy arguments, not settled outcomes. The amendment does not calculate the final tax mix or determine whether a particular household would pay more or less.

What the fiscal note says

Missouri’s official ballot language says the amendment itself has no direct impact on state or local tax revenue. It also says implementing legislation would have an unknown effect on state and local revenue. The ballot language states that the impact on taxes is unknown at this time.

The fiscal note estimates implementation costs of at least $100,000 and a $57,000 annual reduction in income-tax check-off donations. It does not provide a long-term estimate for income-tax collections, sales-tax collections, or the cost of maintaining state services after any future tax changes.

The amendment would also require local tax-rate cuts if local sales-tax revenue increases, while stating that school funding cannot be reduced through that provision. That protection is specific to the local tax-rate reduction mechanism; it does not resolve every possible future effect on school districts, local governments, or other public services.

Revenue conditions will matter

Missouri’s June 2026 general-revenue report provides context but not a forecast. For the fiscal year through June, net general revenue collections were down 2.8% from the prior year. Individual income-tax collections were down 0.3%, while sales-and-use-tax collections were up 5.3%.

The Office of Administration said the figures are a snapshot that can vary based on many factors. They do not establish whether replacing income-tax revenue with sales-and-use-tax revenue would be sustainable or equitable.

What happens next

A yes vote on August 4 would place the constitutional framework in effect and leave the Legislature to write implementing laws. The timing and size of future income-tax reductions would depend on the revenue-growth standards and legislation adopted by lawmakers.

A no vote would leave the current constitutional framework in place and would not authorize Amendment 5’s income-tax phase-out or expanded sales-and-use-tax authority.

For voters, the key distinction is between what Amendment 5 would require and what it would leave for future lawmakers. The measure would begin a potential multiyear restructuring of Missouri’s tax system, but it would not by itself determine the final tax burden for households, businesses, schools, or local governments.

Sources

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