“In one state, voters will get to decide whether to eliminate the income tax. Will more follow?” by David A. Lieb
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — It’s not every day — or even every decade — that voters are presented a decision like this: Should the state’s individual income tax be eliminated?
When that question appears on a Missouri ballot later this year, it will mark the first time since the modern income tax began over a century ago that a U.S. state legislature has asked voters whether to eliminate the tax. If they say “yes,” they will also be authorizing a sales tax expansion.
Missouri’s unique proposal caps a five-year tax-cutting binge in states that flourished while governments were flush with cash during the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and only recently abated as some Democratic-led states embraced higher tax rates on millionaires. During that time, almost every state made either permanent or temporary reductions to some type of tax, whether on income, sales, property or gas. And more than half the states that levy income taxes reduced their top tax rate.
