Missouri voters to decide on constitutional amendment to phase out and eliminate state income tax

Missouri voters will decide on a constitutional amendment requiring lawmakers to phase out and eliminate the state income tax.

Rep. Bishop Davidson (R-130) introduced the constitutional amendment as House Joint Resolutions 173 & 174 in the Missouri House of Representatives. The House passed the measure 98–54, with one Democrat and 97 Republicans voting yes and 50 Democrats and four Republicans voting no. The Senate then amended the measure and passed it 18–11 on April 10, with all 18 yes votes from Republicans and the no votes coming from eight Democrats and three Republicans. The same day, the House approved the amended version 95–59, with 95 Republicans voting yes and 50 Democrats and nine Republicans voting no.

The original amendment the House passed differed from the Senate amendment. While the original text of the amendment offered a framework for eliminating the state income tax, such as the 0.01% reduction in the state income tax per $20 million increase in revenue, as well as an automatic elimination of the state income tax if the rate fell below 1.4%, the Senate-amended version of the measure removed these provisions, replacing the language with a requirement that lawmakers must enact laws to phase out and eliminate the income tax based on revenue growth.

The amendment would require the legislature to reduce the state individual income tax based on revenue growth until the tax is eliminated, and would prohibit future state income taxes once it is eliminated. It would also require reductions in personal property and other local taxes to offset revenue from any expansion of sales and use taxes, while prohibiting reductions in funding for public schools. It would allow the legislature to expand sales and use taxes if the changes are used to reduce and eliminate the income tax, but would prohibit applying those taxes to services or transactions that were not taxed as of January 1, 2015. In 2016, Missouri voters approved Amendment 4, which prohibited certain new state sales or use taxes.




https://news.ballotpedia.org/2026/04/23/missouri-voters-to-decide-on-constitutional-amendment-to-phase-out-and-eliminate-state-income-tax/