Lawsuit Seeks to Remove Missouri Income Tax Amendment from 2026 Ballot
Legal challenge filed Wednesday argues proposed constitutional amendment improperly bundles multiple subjects and gives misleading information to voters.
JEFFERSON CITY, MISSOURI — A lawsuit filed Wednesday in Cole County Circuit Court seeks to remove a proposed constitutional amendment from Missouri’s 2026 ballot that would give lawmakers power to expand sales taxes while phasing out the state income tax.
Attorney Chuck Hatfield filed the legal challenge on behalf of a Missouri resident, arguing that legislators improperly bundled multiple subjects into one proposal and wrote misleading ballot language for the measure approved by the state legislature last month.
The proposed amendment would ask voters to begin eliminating Missouri’s individual income tax, a top priority of Governor Mike Kehoe who argues the change would make the state more competitive with others that do not tax individual income.
Constitutional Violations Alleged
The lawsuit’s central argument contends the proposal violates constitutional limits on ballot measures by including more than one subject and effectively amending multiple articles of the Missouri Constitution.
“This is precisely the logrolling harm the multi-article rule was designed to prevent,” the lawsuit argues, stating that voters who support eliminating the income tax could be forced to accept provisions they oppose, such as expanding the sales tax or changing how road funds and local taxes are handled.
The legal challenge also claims the proposal would improperly expand the constitutional role of the state auditor by requiring the office to calculate reduced tax rates triggered by the amendment. The petition argues this duty is unrelated to auditing the receipt or expenditure of public funds, which the Missouri Constitution establishes as the limit of the auditor’s authority.
Ballot Placement Uncertain
The measure is expected to appear on the November ballot unless Governor Kehoe decides to move it to another election. The lawsuit asks the court to block the proposal from any ballot entirely, or alternatively, to rewrite the summary statement that voters would see.
If successful, the legal challenge could prevent Missouri voters from deciding whether to eliminate the state’s individual income tax in favor of expanded sales taxes. The proposal represents a shift in how Missouri would collect revenue from residents and businesses.
The lawsuit argues that instead of its current scope, the amendment would give the auditor new rate-setting or revenue-modeling responsibilities that exceed the constitutional boundaries of the office’s auditing functions.
