Could Missouri eliminate its income tax? For Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe, it’s a priority to ensure growth for the state’s future.
“Missouri brings real strength to the table in recruiting jobs and investments. But when we’re competing against states like Tennessee and Texas, states with no individual income tax, too often the conversation ends before it truly begins,” Kehoe said.
Eliminating the individual income tax, Kehoe said at his State of the State address in January, will attract businesses and workers to Missouri — something the state has struggled to do in recent years.
Rep. Bishop Davidson, a Republican who represents part of Greene County, near Springfield, agrees. Simply lowering them further isn’t enough, he says.
“There's a huge difference between zero and any other number,” he told KCUR’s Up To Date. “And until you get to zero, that growth is going to be hard to realize.”
Davidson is the sponsor of House Joint Resolutions 173 and 174, which would begin the process of eliminating the income tax. They would create a mechanism to do it over time, and allow for the state to potentially expand some sales taxes to recoup funding the state loses as a result.
House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, a Democrat representing Platte County, says she’s concerned eliminating the income tax could essentially raise taxes on the average Missourian through increases on sales taxes.
“This hamstrings a future General Assembly. They're going to see as much as $9 billion lost from our general revenue, which is what we get in income taxes. We have to make that up somehow,” Aune said.
The resolution, if passed in the Missouri General Assembly, must be approved by voters. They could weigh in as soon as November.
- Rep. Bishop Davidson, Republican representing part of Greene County
- Rep. Ashley Aune, Missouri House Minority Leader
