Income Taxes in Missouri
Missouri's income tax became a real, simple flat 4.0% rate on January 1, 2026 -- down from a graduated top rate of 4.7% -- with a real but conditional statutory mechanism for further phase-down toward 3.7%, and a genuinely dated political twist: Missouri voters just rejected eliminating the tax entirely.
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Learn moreA newly simplified, moderate flat rate on wage income
As of January 1, 2026, Missouri levies a flat 4.0% tax on Missouri taxable income -- a single rate, replacing the previous graduated structure that topped out at 4.7%. This is a real, moderate rate, and this record does not overstate it as unusually low; it is a genuine simplification and modest cut, not an outlier nationally.
A real but CONDITIONAL mechanism for further phase-down
Missouri's flat 4.0% rate carries a real statutory mechanism for further phase-down toward 3.7% over roughly a decade, contingent on the state meeting defined net general-revenue-growth triggers in future years. This is genuinely conditional, not a guaranteed schedule -- a mover should budget against the current, in-effect 4.0% rate rather than assuming an eventual 3.7%.
Missouri voters just rejected going further: the Amendment 5 story
On August 4, 2026, Missouri voters rejected Amendment 5 -- a ballot measure that would have given the legislature five years to phase out the state income tax entirely in favor of higher sales taxes -- by a real, overwhelming 83%-to-16% margin, a significant defeat for Gov. Mike Kehoe and other Republican backers of the measure. Opponents specifically argued it would have shifted the tax burden onto lower-income Missourians via a higher sales tax. This record states plainly that Missouri is not on a path to zero income tax; voters just rejected the more aggressive path decisively.
This doesn't make Missouri a broadly low-tax state on its own
This record does not let Missouri's simplified flat income tax imply Missouri is a low-tax state across the board. Missouri's property tax sits at the national median (not a bargain) and its sales tax is the real weak spot in its tax structure -- a low 4.225% state rate sitting under a substantial local add-on layer reaching 12.238% combined in parts of St. Louis. See the property-taxes and sales-tax topics for the fuller picture.
Key takeaways
- Missouri's state income tax became a simple flat 4.0% on January 1, 2026, down from a graduated top rate of 4.7%.
- A real but CONDITIONAL statutory mechanism could phase the rate down further toward 3.7% over roughly a decade, contingent on future revenue-growth triggers -- not guaranteed.
- On August 4, 2026, Missouri voters rejected Amendment 5 (full income-tax elimination in favor of higher sales taxes) by a real 83%-to-16% margin -- a significant, dated political fact.
- Missouri's simplified income tax doesn't make it broadly low-tax -- property tax sits at the national median and sales tax is the state's real weak point.
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