For Immediate Release: April 21, 2026
Legislature’s Tax Scheme Will Hurt Missourians
Statement from Amy Blouin, President and CEO, Missouri Budget Project
With this vote, state lawmakers have advanced to the ballot a misleading tax scheme that would result in a massive tax hike for most Missourians. While the richest Missourians will pad their investment accounts, the vast majority of us will be subject to whopping increased costs for everything from home repairs to car insurance to burial services.
Policymakers know the devil is in the details, so instead of putting a full plan to voters, they’re kicking the can down the line and creating a giant loophole that allows future lawmakers to create new sales taxes on everything they want, without a vote of the people.
Why? Because they know Missourians are already struggling to pay the bills. And it is easier to hide the ball and promise everything will be fine than to tell their constituents that in order to eliminate the income tax and still pay for things like schools, infrastructure, and public safety, Missourians will see big new taxes.
Under this proposal, these new taxes can be applied to everything, and they can be as high as future, unelected legislators want them to be. That can increase the cost of health care, prescriptions, nursing home care, and even buying or selling a home.
Simply put, the legislature’s plan to swap income tax for sales tax is a bad deal for the vast majority of Missourians. Seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities will be hardest hit by this scheme. That’s because many of these Missourians are exempt from income taxes and will see only increased sales taxes.
Missourians deserve more than empty promises. They deserve more than legislators saying, “trust us, it’ll be fine.” But I guess if you’re trying to sell a lemon of a deal that’s bad for Missourians and their communities, you hide the problems under the hood until it’s too late for the buyer to return. Lawmakers are trying to sell Missouri voters a lemon, but in the Show-Me State, we want them to show us the details.
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Missouri Budget Project is a nonprofit public policy analysis organization that analyzes state budget, tax, and economic issues.
