Gov. Mike Kehoe wants voters to decide whether Missouri should eliminate its income tax [View all]

Gov. Mike Kehoe wants voters to determine whether Missouri should completely phase out its income tax and replace it with an expanded sales tax, leaving details on how to do it for lawmakers to decide next year.

Kehoe laid out the plan in his annual State of the State address to a joint session of the Missouri General Assembly on Tuesday afternoon. After declaring that he was determined to trim the size of the state budget, the governor said Missouri is falling behind states like Tennessee and Texas that don’t have an income tax.

“If we are serious about building a foundation for growth,” he said, “to compete rather than be complacent, then we must begin the work now to phase-out and eliminate Missouri’s individual income tax.”

Missouri’s income tax represents 65% of last year’s $13.4 billion in state revenue. Since 2014, the top income tax rate has fallen from 6% to 4.7%. Two future cuts, bringing the rate down to 4.5%, are already on the books and will take effect if general revenue growth hits certain targets.



https://missouriindependent.com/2026/01/13/gov-mike-kehoe-wants-voters-to-decide-whether-missouri-should-eliminate-its-income-tax/