income tax cuts

Amendment 5, which is aimed at eliminating the income tax, will stay on the August 4 ballot. But the court ruled that the summary must ensure voters know they are giving lawmakers authority to impose new sales taxes without current constitutional restrictions.

Voters in Missouri will decide whether the state can expand sales and uses taxes, in order to eliminate the income tax. Local government officials worry about how it will impact businesses, consumers, revenue for services like parks and transit, and budget planning.

Opponents argue that the proposal to expand sales and use taxes, known as Amendment 5, violated constitutional prohibitions on addressing more than one subject. They plan to appeal the ruling.

An amendment banning abortion will go before Missouri voters in November, possibly alongside a referendum on the state's gerrymandered congressional map. But a proposal to expand sales taxes and eliminate the income tax will appear in the smaller-turnout August election.

Missouri voters will decide later this year whether to eliminate the state's income tax. Small business owners would be among those to feel the effects most acutely if the measure were to pass.

In some respects, whether the Republican-controlled legislature succeeded in all of its goals isn’t known yet, because priorities like restricting abortion and ending the income tax must be decided by voters.

A Cole County judge is being asked to block the measure from the ballot or rewrite its summary for voters.

As a proposal to eliminate Missouri sales tax is put before voters this year, some workers worry efforts to offset the losses will make it hard to pay rent or put food on the table.

Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe said he's ready to sell his plan to expand sales and use taxes, which would allow Missouri to end the income tax. Another ballot measure would repeal constitutional protections for abortion rights.

Passing a proposed constitutional amendment to eliminate the income tax is a priority for Republicans in Jefferson City. The resolution still needs final approval from the Missouri House, but critics say that raising sales taxes will disproportionately hurt lower-income and elderly Missourians.

Proponents of eliminating Missouri’s individual income tax, including Gov. Mike Kehoe, say it will make the state more competitive and appealing for businesses and people looking to move to the state. But opponents say that hiking sales taxes will impose more costs on lower-income residents.

Despite the potential high costs, Republicans on a Senate committee advanced the plan on a party-line vote Monday. The bill would place an amendment on the statewide ballot later this year asking voters permission to eliminate the income tax and expand sales taxes.