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.

Currently, 42 states and the District of Columbia have a state income tax (Washington taxes personal income over $1 million), while the remaining eight states—Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming—do not have one. Three states—Florida, Tennessee, and Texas—have constitutional bans on personal income tax. South Dakota law also bans a state income tax, but it is not part of the state constitution.

Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe (R), who supports the Missouri amendment, said, “This is the first step in keeping our promise to make Missouri more competitive, attract jobs and investment, and let families keep more of what they earn from the start.”

Rep. Davidson (R) said the amendment would help the economy and residents in the state, saying, “[The income tax] has killed the source of wealth for Missouri’s middle class. It has made the American Dream an American memory and even that is fading out of view. It has decayed our economy, stagnated our wages, chased young people out of the state and left our seniors without their families.”

Democrats in the state legislature opposed the amendment, saying it would result in higher sales taxes. Rep. Stephanie Hein (D-136) said, “Let’s be real. There is no opting out on buying everyday goods and services. You have to feed your family, you have to have a place to live. You have to be able to buy your medicine. Those are non-negotiables.”

Claire Cook-Callen, executive director of Progress Missouri, said, “Missourians expect strong public schools, reliable roads and bridges, and fully-funded, accessible services — and for everyone to pay their fair share. Instead, this plan gives a tax break to the state’s eight billionaires and sticks each working family with a bill of about $500 more each year.”

Currently, Missouri has a graduated income tax with a top rate of 4.7%. The state sales tax is 4.225%. However, local sales taxes, including county and city taxes, mean that combined sales taxes are higher. According to the Tax Foundation, Missouri has an average combined state and local sales tax rate of 8.41%.

Gov. Kehoe has until May 22 to decide whether the amendment will appear on the Aug. 4, 2026, primary ballot or the Nov. 3, 2026, general election ballot.