Missouri Voters Reject Income Tax Phaseout in Major Blow to Kehoe
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri voters on Tuesday rejected Amendment 5, a proposal that would have let state lawmakers expand sales and use taxes to
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri voters on Tuesday rejected Amendment 5, a proposal that would have let state lawmakers expand sales and use taxes to phase out the state income tax. The measure failed decisively, with no votes reaching 83% when the race was called at 8:15 p.m.
The result undercuts Gov. Mike Kehoe and other Republicans who pushed the idea as a tax-cutting overhaul. It also leaves Missouri lawmakers unable to expand sales and use taxes without voter approval.
Amendment 5 Falls Early
The Associated Press called the race about an hour after polls closed, with only 17% of the vote counted in one early report and the opposition holding a large lead. Another report put the tally at 83.9% against and 16.1% in favor when the AP declared the measure defeated at 8:12 p.m.
Under the proposal, the Missouri legislature would have had five years to draw up a plan to phase out the income tax. The tax would have been reduced according to revenue from other sources, while lawmakers would have gained authority to tax goods and services that state law or the constitution does not currently allow to be taxed.
That would have been a sharp change for a state where income tax brings in roughly six in ten dollars of general revenue. The Missouri Budget Project said the measure would have increased overall taxes for 80% of Missourians. The stakes were high. Very high.
Rejection Sends a Signal to the Capitol
Kehoe said Tuesday night that the defeat did not end the push for lower taxes. “I remain committed to working with the General Assembly in the years ahead on ways to continue cutting taxes, growing our state’s economy, and pursuing conservative policies that help Missouri families keep more of what they earn,” he said.
House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, a Democrat from Kansas City, said conversations with voters across the state made the measure’s weakness clear. Scott Charton, spokesman for the Missouri REALTORS campaign committees, went further after the vote, saying, “Amendments 4 and 5 have been buried so deep in citizen rejection they should never come back,” Charton said.
The campaign opposing Amendment 5 was led by the Missouri REALTORS. At its headquarters, champagne flowed as the defeat became clear. For now, the income tax stays in place, and the legislature still cannot widen sales and use taxes on its own.
