The Basics
Missouri Amendment 5 is a proposed constitutional amendment on the August 4, 2026 primary ballot that would require the legislature to phase out the state individual income tax and authorize lawmakers to expand sales and use taxes to make up the lost revenue — without a vote of the people.
Because the state income tax provides roughly two-thirds of Missouri's general fund, replacing it would require the largest tax increase in Missouri history. The nonpartisan Missouri Budget Project estimates the combined state and local sales tax could triple to about 16% on everything you buy.
Missourians vote on Amendment 5 on Tuesday, August 4, 2026 — the statewide primary election. Polls are open from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. across all 114 Missouri counties and the City of St. Louis.
The official ballot summary statement reads:
"Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to:
• Require legislative phase-out of the individual state income tax based on revenue growth, and authorize the expansion of sales and use taxes;
• Curtail constitutional limits on taxing goods and services; and
• Require local tax rate cuts without reducing school funding if local sales tax revenue increases?"
The official Fair Ballot Language Statement notes: "At this time, the impact on taxes is unknown" — language the State Auditor included because Amendment 5 removes constitutional safeguards on how high new taxes could go.
A "YES" vote enacts Amendment 5. A "NO" vote preserves Missouri's current constitutional taxpayer protections.
The full text of Amendment 5 is HCS HJR 173 & 174 as passed by the Missouri General Assembly. It is available on the Missouri Secretary of State's website at sos.mo.gov and at the Missouri Ethics Commission. The Missouri Budget Project Fiscal Impact Statement (May 6, 2026) is the authoritative independent analysis of what the amendment would cost Missouri taxpayers.
What Amendment 5 Actually Does
Amendment 5 does three things: (1) it requires the legislature to phase out Missouri's state individual income tax based on revenue growth triggers, (2) it authorizes lawmakers to expand the sales and use tax to make up the lost revenue, and (3) it curtails the existing constitutional limits on what goods and services can be taxed in Missouri.
In plain language: Amendment 5 lets politicians eliminate the income tax and then raise sales taxes — including new sales taxes on services that have never been taxed before in Missouri history — without asking voters for permission.
Amendment 5 requires the legislature to phase out the state individual income tax based on revenue growth triggers — not immediately. The phase-out is conditional on revenue performance, and the timeline depends on legislative decisions made over the next five years.
Income tax cuts under Amendment 5 would primarily benefit the wealthiest Missourians, because higher earners pay the largest share of income tax. The Missouri Budget Project estimates the highest-income Missourians would see the largest tax cuts under Amendment 5, while 80% of Missourians would see their overall taxes go up because of higher sales taxes.
Yes. Amendment 5 authorizes the legislature to raise sales tax rates and expand the sales tax to new categories of goods and services — including services that have never been taxed in Missouri history.
The nonpartisan Missouri Budget Project estimates the average combined state and local sales tax could triple to about 16% on everything you buy. This would be the highest combined sales tax rate in the United States.
"The Everything Tax" is the nickname for Amendment 5 because it would allow politicians to apply sales tax to virtually everything Missourians buy — including services that have never been taxed before in Missouri history, such as haircuts, child care, car repairs, dental care, veterinary services, real estate commissions, and home repairs.
Amendment 5 also lets politicians raise the sales tax rate itself. The combined effect is a sales tax that hits everything, at a higher rate, without your vote — which is why opponents call it The Everything Tax.
The Missouri Budget Project estimates the combined state and local sales tax rate could triple from the current average of about 8% to approximately 16% on everything you buy. Some areas with higher local sales tax rates could see combined rates approaching 20%.
For comparison, the highest combined state-and-local sales tax in the United States today averages around 9.5% (Tennessee). A 16% Missouri rate would be the highest in the nation.
Amendment 5 authorizes the legislature to expand the sales tax to virtually any service. Services that have never been taxed in Missouri history could be taxed under Amendment 5, including:
- Doctor visits, prescription medicine, and medical bills
- In-home care and nursing home care for elderly family members
- Child care and daycare
- Haircuts and personal services
- Car repairs and auto services
- Dental care and orthodontics
- Veterinary care and pet services
- Legal services and accountant fees
- Real estate commissions, home inspections, and closing services
- Plumbing, electrical, painting, and home repair services
- Funeral and burial services
- Therapy and mental health services
- Farm services, veterinarians, equipment repair, and auctioneers
Governor Kehoe has said certain categories — such as agriculture, health care, and real estate — would be "off-limits" from the expanded sales tax. That promise is not in the amendment text. The amendment contains no carve-outs.
Who Pays Under Amendment 5
If you are among the 80% of Missourians the Missouri Budget Project estimates will pay more under Amendment 5, yes. The average Missouri household is projected to pay about $500 more per year in taxes overall under Amendment 5 — because the higher sales taxes you'll pay on everything from groceries to gas to services will exceed any income tax cut you receive.
Income tax cuts under Amendment 5 primarily benefit the wealthiest Missourians, while higher sales taxes hit hardest for working families, seniors, retirees, veterans, disabled persons, renters, and small businesses — anyone who spends a higher share of their income on everyday goods and services.
Amendment 5 hits seniors, retirees, veterans, and disabled persons hardest. Those on tight fixed incomes may not pay income tax on their limited income, but they will pay higher sales taxes on goods they buy every day — groceries, medicine, gas — and on services they use every day, from haircuts to car repairs to health care and housing.
Polling shows 86% of Missouri primary voters oppose new sales taxes on in-home and nursing home care, and 85% oppose new sales taxes on doctor visits and medical bills. Under Amendment 5, both are on the table.
Active-duty military pay is already exempt from Missouri state income tax, so military families will not see an income tax cut under Amendment 5. They will, however, face the higher sales taxes Amendment 5 authorizes on off-base purchases — groceries, gas, restaurants, services, and child care.
Communities surrounding Whiteman Air Force Base, Fort Leonard Wood, and other Missouri military installations will see reduced military family spending and economic harm from the higher sales taxes.
Amendment 5 crushes the dream of Missourians who want to buy or sell a home. The Missouri Constitution's current ban on taxing the buying or selling of a home — approved by 83.7% of voters in 2010 — could be ignored by politicians under Amendment 5.
Amendment 5 would also allow new sales taxes on services related to home buying, selling, and ownership — from home inspections to real estate commissions, to painting, decorating, plumbing, construction, and landscaping. Every step of the home-buying process becomes more expensive.
Amendment 5 is a severe hit for renters who are already struggling to make ends meet. The Everything Tax's new sales tax on everyday services will add new costs to nearly everything renters pay for outside their lease.
If renters are saving to buy a home, Amendment 5 puts homeownership further out of reach by allowing a new sales tax on the buying and selling of homes — ignoring the constitutional protection 83.7% of Missouri voters approved in 2010.
Amendment 5 will make the economic struggle even harder for small businesses. They will have to charge higher sales tax on goods and collect new sales taxes on services customers use every day — adding compliance costs, paperwork, and new tax liability for every small business in Missouri.
Main Street Missouri already has too many shuttered businesses. Higher sales taxes will do even greater economic harm. Businesses near border states with lower sales tax rates — Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Tennessee, Nebraska — will be hit hardest as Missouri consumers cross state lines to avoid the 16% Everything Tax.
Amendment 5 will only increase the tough economic times in rural Missouri. The current constitutional ban on taxing the buying and selling of land could be ignored by lawmakers. Amendment 5 also lets politicians put a new sales tax on everyday farm services — from equipment repairs to veterinarians to auctioneers — and would raise sales taxes on the goods rural Missourians depend on, from food to fuel to farm equipment.
Rural and small-town Missourians spend a higher share of their income on the kinds of everyday purchases that Amendment 5 would tax more heavily.
Working families with children are projected to pay an average of $500 more per year in taxes under Amendment 5, according to the Missouri Budget Project. The higher sales taxes on groceries, gas, child care, school supplies, and family services more than offset any income tax cut.
Polling shows 78% of voters oppose new sales taxes on child care, 76% oppose new sales taxes on groceries, and 77% oppose new sales taxes on baby formula and diapers. Amendment 5 makes all three possible.
The Constitutional Protections Amendment 5 Overrides
The Hancock Amendment is a 1980 amendment to the Missouri Constitution that requires the legislature to seek voter approval for significant state tax increases. It gives Missourians the final say at the ballot box on big tax hikes.
Amendment 5 would override the Hancock Amendment for purposes of the new sales taxes it authorizes — letting politicians pass the largest tax HIKE in Missouri history without putting it to a vote of the people.
Yes. Twice. In 2010, 83.7% of Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment banning new taxes on the buying or selling of homes (real estate transfer taxes). In 2016, Missouri voters approved the Taxpayer Protection Amendment, which banned new sales taxes on services that were not already taxed as of January 1, 2015.
Amendment 5 lets the legislature ignore both of these voter-approved constitutional protections — without going back to the voters for permission.
That is what Amendment 5 is designed to do. The amendment does not directly repeal the 2010 transfer-tax ban or the 2016 Taxpayer Protection Amendment. Instead, it authorizes the legislature to enact new sales taxes that bypass those protections, on the theory that the new policy direction ("eliminate the income tax") overrides the specific protections voters approved.
If Amendment 5 passes, every taxpayer protection Missourians put in the constitution over the last half-century is on the table for politicians to ignore.
Who's Behind Amendment 5 — and Who's Opposing It
Amendment 5 was placed on the ballot by the Missouri General Assembly. The campaign supporting Amendment 5 is Missouri Promise PAC.
As of late May 2026, Missouri Promise PAC has been funded entirely by Missouri Promise Inc., a Delaware-incorporated nonprofit whose donors are not publicly disclosed to the Missouri Ethics Commission. The opposition reported $1.9 million in initial funding. Backers also include Americans for Tax Reform, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group that has promoted similar income-tax-elimination plans in other states.
The campaign opposing Amendment 5 is Missourians for Fair Taxation, a broad statewide coalition organized by Missouri REALTORS®.
Additional coalition partners across business, healthcare, education, labor, faith communities, and senior advocacy organizations are joining on a rolling basis. The coalition explicitly bridges the political spectrum on the shared interest of defending Missouri taxpayers.
Missourians for Fair Taxation is the official campaign committee opposing Amendment 5 on the August 4, 2026 ballot. The committee was originally organized by Missouri REALTORS® to protect housing affordability and defend the constitutional taxpayer protections Missouri voters approved in 2010 and 2016 — protections Amendment 5 would brush aside.
Missouri REALTORS® has led ballot fights against similar tax expansion proposals before — and won both times.
In 2010, Missouri REALTORS® led the campaign that banned new taxes on the buying and selling of homes; 83.7% of Missouri voters approved that amendment. In 2016, Missouri REALTORS® led the Taxpayer Protection Amendment campaign that banned new sales taxes on services. Amendment 5 is the latest attempt in sixteen years to undo what voters approved — and Missouri REALTORS® is once again leading the defense.
The Election and the Politics
Governor Mike Kehoe moved Amendment 5 (along with Amendment 4) to the August 4, 2026 primary ballot in May 2026. The August primary historically draws lower turnout than the November general election — typically 25% to 35% of registered voters — and skews older, more rural, and more politically conservative.
Critics of the timing say the August primary was chosen specifically because a smaller, lower-information electorate is more likely to be persuaded by the surface-level pitch ("end the income tax") than by the policy substance (a blank check to triple the sales tax).
Yes. Both Amendment 4 and Amendment 5 will appear on the August 4, 2026 Missouri primary ballot. The Missouri REALTORS® is encouraging voters to vote NO on Amendment 4 and NO on Amendment 5.
Amendment 4 would make it harder for Missouri voters to amend the state constitution by initiative petition. Amendment 5 would let politicians override the constitutional taxpayer protections voters already approved.
If Amendment 5 fails on August 4, 2026, the Missouri Constitution remains unchanged. The Hancock Amendment continues to require voter approval for big state tax increases. The 2010 ban on taxing home sales remains in effect. The 2016 Taxpayer Protection Amendment continues to prohibit new sales taxes on services.
A NO vote preserves Missouri's existing constitutional taxpayer protections.
If Amendment 5 fails on August 4, 2026, the Missouri Constitution remains unchanged. The state individual income tax stays in place. The Hancock Amendment continues to require voter approval for big state tax increases. The 2010 ban on taxing home sales remains in effect. The 2016 Taxpayer Protection Amendment continues to prohibit new sales taxes on services.
A NO vote preserves Missouri's existing constitutional taxpayer protections.
How to Vote and How to Help
Voting NO on Amendment 5 is simple: on your August 4, 2026 primary ballot, locate Amendment 5 and fill in the bubble next to "NO."
Polls are open across Missouri from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Constitutional amendments appear on every voters ballot regardless of which party primary you vote in — you do not need to request a specific party ballot to vote on Amendment 5.
You can check your voter registration status at the Missouri Secretary of State's website: sos.mo.gov/elections/voterregistration. The deadline to register to vote in the August 4, 2026 primary is Wednesday, July 9, 2026.
You can register to vote online, by mail, or in person at your local election authority.
Yes. Missouri offers no-excuse absentee voting in person beginning two weeks before Election Day. Mail-in absentee ballots are available for voters who meet specific criteria.
Contact your local election authority, or visit sos.mo.gov/elections/goVoteMissouri, for absentee voting deadlines and procedures specific to your county.
There are six ways to help defeat Amendment 5:
- Vote NO on August 4, 2026 — and make sure everyone in your household has a plan to vote.
- Talk to family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers about Amendment 5 and what it would do.
- Sign up to volunteer with Missourians for Fair Taxation at ProtectMOTaxpayers.com/take-action.
- Request a NO on 5 yard sign for your home, business, or farm.
- Have your organization join the coalition opposing Amendment 5.
- Donate to support the campaign (donations open soon — sign up to be notified).
Every Missouri voter who hears the facts about Amendment 5 is one more vote against The Everything Tax.
Request a NO on 5 yard sign at ProtectMOTaxpayers.com/take-action. The campaign will deliver or coordinate pickup. Yard signs are available for residential yards, business storefronts, farms, and rural properties.
Organizations (nonprofits, businesses, professional associations, faith communities, labor unions, civic groups) can join the Missourians for Fair Taxation coalition by submitting the Join the Coalition form at ProtectMOTaxpayers.com/take-action. A coalition coordinator will follow up.
Coalition partners can receive co-branded handouts, social graphics, talking points, and member-facing materials to share with their networks.