Missouri Money and Tax Research Guide

Eight steps to 4.7%, all of them below $10,000

The 2026 schedule from the Missouri Department of Revenue has eight rate levels. The first $1,348 of Missouri taxable income is taxed at 0%. From there the rate rises in $1,348 increments: 2.0%, 2.5%, 3.0%, 3.5%, 4.0%, 4.5% and finally 4.7% on everything above $9,436. The brackets are indexed each year and apply to every filing status alike.

Because the steps are so narrow, the schedule behaves like a flat 4.7% with a small discount at the bottom. Tax on the first $9,436 totals $263. Above that, each extra dollar costs 4.7 cents. Reaching the top bracket does not retroactively tax the lower slices at 4.7%, but for planning purposes the marginal rate on a raise is 4.7% for almost anyone working full time.

What keeps the effective rate lower is the deduction that comes before the schedule. Missouri starts from federal adjusted gross income, applies additions and subtractions on Form MO-A, then subtracts a standard deduction that matches the federal amount: $16,100 for a single filer, $24,150 for head of household and $32,200 for a married couple filing jointly. Only what survives that subtraction reaches the bracket table.

The register makes up the difference: 4.225% plus whatever the county adds

Missouri's state sales tax is 4.225%. That is the floor, not the bill. Cities, counties and special districts layer their own rates on top, from nothing to as much as 5.88%, so the combined rate on a taxable purchase runs from 4.225% to 10.1% depending on the address. Local rates change by the quarter and the Department of Revenue publishes updated statewide tables throughout the year.

Groceries get a break at the state level only. Qualifying food for home consumption is taxed at a reduced 1.225% state rate, 3 points below the general rate, but the local taxes still apply in full. Prepared food from a business that earns more than 80% of its receipts from ready-to-eat meals does not qualify. Services are taxed only when the statute names them, such as admissions, certain utilities and telecommunications.

The compact version:

The 1% that never reaches Jefferson City

Kansas City and the City of St. Louis each impose a 1% earnings tax under their own ordinances, administered by the cities rather than the Department of Revenue. The reach is wide. A Kansas City resident owes it even when the job is outside the city limits. A nonresident owes it on wages earned for work performed inside the city. St. Louis follows the same pattern for its residents and for nonresidents who work or perform services in the city.

On a wage statement the earnings tax appears as a separate local line when the employer withholds it. It is not part of Missouri state withholding and does not reduce the state calculation. A worker who lives outside the city but commutes into it pays the tax on those wages; a neighbor who works from home outside the city does not.

MO W-4, the standard deduction and what withholding does with them

Missouri withholding runs off the employee's Form MO W-4 and the Department of Revenue's 2026 withholding formula or wage tables. The tables reach the same 4.7% top rate as the annual schedule but spread the calculation across pay periods, so each check carries an estimate of the year rather than a precise slice of the final tax. Withholding is a prepayment. Pensions, Social Security, MO-A modifications and credits all move the final answer at filing time.

Two rules catch people. Estimated tax is required when expected Missouri tax after withholding and credits reaches $100, a very low bar, with installments due April 15, June 15, September 15 and January 15. A resident who also pays tax to another state claims a credit on Form MO-CR based on the other state's actual liability, not the amount withheld. Nonresidents who work entirely outside Missouri for a Missouri employer owe nothing to Missouri on those wages; the state sources wages to where the work is performed.

Retirees get one more break: for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2024, the adjusted gross income limit on the Social Security and public pension deductions is gone.

A brewery line operator's two-week check in St. Louis

Consider a brewery line operator in St. Louis earning $24 an hour, 40 hours a week, paid biweekly and filing single. Federal withholding, Social Security at 6.2% and Medicare at 1.45% come off first, then Missouri withholding from the 2026 tables. The figures below come from the Missouri paycheck calculator at Online Paystub.

Figures come from the Online Paystub Missouri paycheck calculator for 2026. Local taxes, health premiums and retirement contributions are not included.

Look at the gap between the federal and state lines: Missouri's $16,100 standard deduction and low top rate keep the state share modest. If this operator lives or works inside the City of St. Louis, expect a separate 1% earnings tax line as well, withheld for the city rather than the state.

Monthly deduction statements and the other chores employers own

Missouri's Department of Labor requires employers to give employees a statement of deductions at least once a month, either with the check or as a separate document. A statement that itemizes each deduction, not just the total, saves questions later. The Missouri pay stub generator is built to lay those items out from real payroll figures. If a line on an existing statement is unclear, the explanation of what a pay statement contains walks through each block.

Unemployment insurance is an employer cost paid to the Division of Employment Security and never comes out of wages, though liable employers must report each worker's wages to the Division every quarter. Sales tax has its own calendar: monthly returns when state tax due reaches $500 a month, quarterly below that, annual when it is under $200 a quarter. A return is due even for a period with no sales. The minimum wage is $15.00 an hour. On the federal side, Social Security applies at 6.2% up to $184,500 in 2026 and Medicare at 1.45% with no cap.