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Missouri Supreme Court rejects calls to change August ballot question on income taxes.Missouri Supreme Court rejects calls to change August ballot question on income taxes JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.(KY3) -Missouri voters will see a question asking them if they want to repeal the state income tax and replace it with sales taxes.The Missouri Supreme Court said Monday morning it will not take another look at the language.The ballot in August will include a sentence saying Amendment 5 would “Curtail constitutional limits on taxing goods and services” if passed.This means Missouri politicians would be able to raise sales taxes without voter approval to make up for lost revenue from eliminating the state income tax.Missourians will vote on Amendment 5 on Aug.The full ballot language 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 Missouri Supreme Court is standing by a rewritten ballot.This comes after the Western District Court of Appeals decided the original question did not clearly state what Amendment 5 would do.Attorney General Catherine Hanaway’s office sent a statement on the ruling, saying: “The Western District has decided to repeatedly ignore this deference as activists against the will of the people’s elected representatives.We are disappointed in the Supreme Court’s decision to not correct this mistake, but are proud of the work of our team in yet another victory against liberal lawfare.” Scott Charton, speaking for the campaign against Amendment 5, Missourians for Fair Taxation, supports the rewritten ballot language, saying politicians were trying to trick voters.“This particular ballot is gonna have, on one single ballot, more ways that Missouri politicians are asking the citizens to surrender their power than any ballot that I’ve ever seen in 40 years of watching Missouri politics,” Charton said.Charton said it would be the biggest tax increase in Missouri history, and under the language of Amendment 5, voters would not get a vote on it.“People are catching onto this,” Charton said.“The politicians have not told the whole truth about what Amendment 5 would do.It creates an everything tax.” Gov.Mike Kehoe defended the plan to cut income taxes in a statement, saying the judges are acting in favor of special interest groups.“We remain confident that passing Amendment 5 is the best opportunity for Missourians to modernize our state’s outdated tax code, provide economic growth, and bring relief to families through income and property tax cuts,” Kehoe said.Bess Hayles, a Missouri voter, said she feels like her representation in Jefferson City is not listening to her.“I’m a little ticked off; I’m a little frustrated,” Hayles said.“We are disproportionately harming our community by taking away income tax so that billionaires can save more money and putting it on sales tax, which people have to do in order to survive.” To report a correction or typo, please email digitalnews@ky3.com.Please include the article info in the subject line of the email.Copyright 2026 KY3.All rights reserved.