A coalition of national and state policy, taxpayer, and business organizations on Monday urged members of the Missouri General Assembly to responsibly phase out the state individual income tax and update its outdated sales tax system.
The Missouri Promise plan, as envisioned by Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe, would modernize the state’s tax structure in a responsible manner that promotes economic growth, implements strong fiscal responsibility guidelines, and continues to fund core state services.
The plan would also update Missouri’s sales tax by reducing the state’s more than 200 exemptions and carveouts, and simplifying administration across the state’s fragmented system of thousands of overlapping tax jurisdictions.
The coalition letter sent to lawmakers was signed by 43 Missouri and national advocacy organizations and led by National Taxpayers Union.
“While other states have attracted more economic growth through tax reform, Missouri’s tax code remains a dense, outdated patchwork that no longer reflects how Missourians live or work,” Brandon Arnold, National Taxpayers Union Executive Vice President, said. “A top income tax bracket of $9,000 doesn’t make sense in today’s economy. Missouri should follow Governor Kehoe’s lead and implement fiscally responsible tax reform or else it risks falling behind.”
The coalition points to nine states that levy no broad-based income tax and more than two dozen others that have reduced rates or enacted trigger-based reforms, evidence of a growing national trend away from taxing individual income.
“The data shows states without individual income taxes have experienced stronger population growth, job creation, and income growth than high-tax states” Arnold said. “Missouri taxpayers can’t afford more temporary fixes. Governor Kehoe’s willingness to pursue real, structural reform is exactly what Missouri needs right now.”
While critics often point to Kansas’s early-2010s experience, the Missouri Promise is designed with revenue triggers, fiscal guardrails, and spending discipline, avoiding the flaws of the Kansas plan while employing best practices from states that have successfully implemented tax reform.
The 2026 Missouri legislative session begins Wednesday, January 7.
National Taxpayers Union is the only free-market organization for taxpayers that unites effective advocacy with useful research about how to limit taxes, spending, and regulation at every level and branch of government—state, federal, administrative, and judicial.