Does Missouri Tax Social Security and Retirement Income?

Social Security is fully deducted from age 62, with no income limit

Missouri starts from federal adjusted gross income, which contains the taxable part of Social Security, and then allows a deduction of 100% of those benefits. The statute covers Social Security received by a taxpayer aged 62 or older and Social Security disability benefits. Through 2023 the full deduction was limited to Missouri AGI of $85,000 or less ($100,000 for married filing combined); for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2024 it applies regardless of filing status or income. (Revised Statutes of Missouri 143.125, Social Security benefits income tax exemption)

The deduction is claimed on Form MO-A, Part 3, Section C and carried to line 8 of Form MO-1040. On a combined return the benefits taxed on the federal return are allocated between the spouses by each one’s share of the total benefits received. Retirement benefits paid to someone who has not reached 62 by December 31 are not covered. (Missouri Department of Revenue, 2025 Form MO-1040 Individual Income Tax Long Form instructions (including Form MO-A))

The federal government is a separate matter. Up to 85% of a benefit can be taxed on a federal return once other income passes fixed thresholds, wherever you live. Our taxable Social Security calculator shows how much of yours is counted.

Public and military pensions are largely exempt; private pensions get $6,000 only at lower incomes

Pensions from federal, state and local governments are subtracted up to the maximum Social Security benefit available for the year, a figure that started at $32,500 in 2007 and rises with the Consumer Price Index. From tax year 2024 the full amount is allowed regardless of filing status or income. The subtraction is reduced by any Social Security exemption the same person claims. (Revised Statutes of Missouri 143.124, Annuities, pensions and retirement benefits subtracted from Missouri adjusted gross income)

On the 2025 Form MO-A the maximum was $47,633 for each spouse; the 2026 figure will be on the 2026 form. A retired teacher with a $60,000 public pension and no Social Security would subtract $47,633, while one who also deducts $20,000 of taxable Social Security subtracts $27,633 of pension. (Missouri Department of Revenue, 2025 Form MO-A, Individual Income Tax Adjustments (Part 3, pension and Social Security))

Private pensions have a much smaller exemption: a maximum of $6,000 for each taxpayer on the return. It is allowed in full when Missouri adjusted gross income, not counting Social Security, is less than $25,000 for a single filer or $32,000 for married filing combined, and above those ceilings it is reduced by one dollar for every dollar of income. A married couple who each have at least $6,000 of private retirement income lose the last of it at $44,000. (Revised Statutes of Missouri 143.124, Annuities, pensions and retirement benefits subtracted from Missouri adjusted gross income)

Military retirement benefits, including pensions for service in the Missouri National Guard, are subtracted in full on Form MO-A, Part 1, line 10, separately from the pension exemptions. Railroad retirement benefits are subtracted on line 11. (Missouri Department of Revenue, 2025 Form MO-1040 Individual Income Tax Long Form instructions (including Form MO-A))

IRA and 401(k) withdrawals are taxed, with the $6,000 private pension exemption at lower incomes

For the pension exemption Missouri law treats 401(k) plans, deferred compensation plans, Keogh plans and individual retirement arrangements as pensions, but not Roth IRAs. Taxable IRA distributions therefore share the $6,000 private exemption with pension income. Amounts rolled over into another retirement plan do not count as benefits received. (Revised Statutes of Missouri 143.124, Annuities, pensions and retirement benefits subtracted from Missouri adjusted gross income)

In practice the private exemption rarely reaches the readers of this page. Each of our three example households has income excluding Social Security far above the ceiling, so none receives it. The single retiree would need Missouri AGI excluding Social Security below $31,000, not $45,000, to keep any of the $6,000. (Missouri Department of Revenue, 2025 Form MO-A, Individual Income Tax Adjustments (Part 3, pension and Social Security))

A Roth conversion is included in federal adjusted gross income, the first line of the Missouri return, and no subtraction applies to it, so it is taxed at the 4.7% top rate: $2,350 on a $50,000 conversion. It can also reduce the federal income tax deduction, which depends on Missouri adjusted gross income. (Missouri Department of Revenue, 2025 Form MO-1040 Individual Income Tax Long Form instructions (including Form MO-A))

To size a conversion against federal brackets and Medicare surcharges, see the Roth conversion calculator; for required withdrawals, the RMD calculator.

Capital gains are no longer taxed; interest and dividends are

For all tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2025, an individual subtracts one hundred percent of income reported as a capital gain for federal income tax purposes when computing Missouri adjusted gross income. The same subtraction extends to corporations only in the tax year after the top individual rate reaches 4.5% or less. (Revised Statutes of Missouri 143.121, Missouri adjusted gross income (subtractions, including capital gains))

The Department of Revenue’s announcement of the law, House Bill 594, says the deduction applies to both short-term and long-term gains from assets such as stocks, real estate and cryptocurrency. The gains are still taxed on the federal return. (Missouri Department of Revenue, news release: Missouri; First State to Fully Exempt Capital Gains Tax (August 26, 2025))

The subtraction is the capital gain reported on line 7a of the federal Form 1040, entered on Form MO-A, Part 1, line 18. Interest and dividends, including qualified dividends, have no such subtraction and are taxed as ordinary income. The example households on this page treat their long-term gain figure as capital gain reported on line 7a. (Missouri Department of Revenue, 2025 Form MO-1040 Individual Income Tax Long Form instructions (including Form MO-A))

Interest on direct obligations of the U.S. government, such as savings bonds and Treasury bills, notes and bonds, is subtracted on Form MO-A, line 8. Interest on obligations of other states and their political subdivisions, exempt on the federal return, is added back on line 1. (Missouri Department of Revenue, 2025 Form MO-1040 Individual Income Tax Long Form instructions (including Form MO-A))

Missouri’s brackets are narrow and indexed each year. For 2026 the first $1,348 of taxable income is taxed at 0%, the next six bands of $1,348 at 2% to 4.5%, and everything over $9,436 at 4.7%. These figures come from the 2026 withholding formula, which also sets the standard deduction at $16,100 for single filers and $32,200 for a married couple; the 2026 Form MO-1040 and its tax chart have not yet been published. (Missouri Department of Revenue, 2026 Missouri Withholding Tax Formula)

A married couple filing a combined return do not use a wider joint bracket table. The 2025 instructions have them split federal adjusted gross income between the spouses, work out each spouse’s whole-number percentage of Missouri AGI, apply those percentages to the couple’s income after deductions, and compute tax separately for each spouse on the same chart. (Missouri Department of Revenue, 2025 Form MO-1040 Individual Income Tax Long Form instructions (including Form MO-A))

The Missouri standard deduction is defined as the allowable federal standard deduction, so it follows federal changes without further legislation. (Revised Statutes of Missouri 143.131, Missouri standard deduction)

For 2026 the federal standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers and $32,200 for married couples filing jointly, plus $2,050 for an unmarried person 65 or older or $1,650 for each married spouse. A single 68-year-old deducts $18,150 on the Missouri return and a couple who are both over 65 deduct $35,500. (Internal Revenue Service, Revenue Procedure 2025-32 (2026 standard deduction and additional amounts))

Missouri also allows a deduction for part of the household’s federal income tax, which a bracket table cannot show. The share is 35% when Missouri gross income on the return is $25,000 or less, 25% up to $50,000, 15% up to $100,000, 5% up to $125,000 and nothing from $125,001, and the deduction cannot exceed $5,000 on a single return or $10,000 on a combined return. (Revised Statutes of Missouri 143.171, Federal income tax deduction)

The federal senior deduction for 2025 through 2028, $6,000 for each person 65 or older and reduced by 6% of income above $75,000 or $150,000 on a joint return, does not appear on the Missouri return. It matters only by lowering the federal tax that feeds the deduction above. Our single retiree’s federal tax is $5,314 after it, and 15% of that, $797, is deducted in Missouri; both example couples have Missouri AGI above $125,000 and deduct nothing. (26 U.S.C. 151(d)(5)(C), Deduction for seniors)

The top rate has been cut in steps since it was set at 4.95% for 2023. The statute allows further reductions of one-tenth of a point, no more than one a year, each taking effect only if net general revenue in the previous fiscal year exceeded the highest of the three years before it by at least $200 million, adjusted for inflation, and also exceeded revenue five years earlier adjusted for inflation. (Revised Statutes of Missouri 143.011, Resident individuals: tax rates and rate reductions)

Missouri’s retirement breaks are tied to the type of income more than to age. The age tests are 62 for the Social Security deduction and 65 for the additional standard deduction, and the return has checkboxes on its first page for ages 62 through 64 and for 65 or older. The pension exemptions have no minimum age. (Missouri Department of Revenue, 2025 Form MO-1040 Individual Income Tax Long Form instructions (including Form MO-A))

Premiums paid for a qualified long-term care insurance policy, meaning coverage of at least 12 months, are deductible on line 16 of Form MO-1040 to the extent they were not already deducted as medical expenses on the federal return. (Missouri Department of Revenue, 2025 Form MO-1040 Individual Income Tax Long Form instructions (including Form MO-A))

The Property Tax Credit is the main program reserved for older residents. For 2025 claims the income limits were $30,000 for a single homeowner and $34,000 for a married couple who owned and occupied their home all year, and $27,200 and $29,200 for renters and part-year owners. (Missouri Department of Revenue: Property Tax Credit FAQs)

The same three households appear on every state page, so the figures can be compared across states. Each is a full-year resident taking the standard deduction, with no dependents. The figures are state income tax only: any county, city or school district income tax is described on this page but not added in. Pension income is from a private employer, and IRA figures are taxable withdrawals from traditional accounts. The state tax is our calculation from Missouri's published 2026 rules; it is an illustration, not a return.

These households also owe federal income tax, which is the same wherever they live. The tax bracket calculator and the guide to taxes in retirement cover that side.

Property tax is set and collected locally. Residential real property is assessed at 19% of its true value, and assessors set new values as of January 1 of each odd-numbered year, which carry into the following even-numbered year. (Revised Statutes of Missouri 137.115, Real and personal property assessment)

For comparison across states, Tax Foundation figures drawn from Census data put Missouri property taxes at 0.89% of owner-occupied home value in 2024, 23rd highest among the states. (Tax Foundation, Property Taxes by State and County, 2026 (comparative figures from Census ACS data))

The Property Tax Credit was rewritten with effect from January 1, 2026. The income limit rises to $42,200 for a single claimant and $48,000 for a married couple who owned and occupied the home all year ($38,200 and $41,000 for other claimants), and the most property tax that counts rises from $1,100 to $1,550 and the rent equivalent from $750 to $1,055. The limits are to be indexed for inflation from January 1, 2027. (Revised Statutes of Missouri 135.030, Property tax credit: formula and income limits)

Income for the credit is broader than taxable income: Missouri adjusted gross income increased by Social Security, railroad retirement and veterans benefits and all public and private pensions and annuities. A claimant or spouse must be 65 or older and a Missouri resident for the whole year, or disabled, a 100% service-disabled veteran, or 60 or older and receiving surviving spouse Social Security benefits. (Revised Statutes of Missouri 135.010, Property tax credit: definitions (claimant, income))

The state sales and use tax is 4.225%. Cities, counties and special districts such as fire districts add their own taxes, and the department publishes an address lookup tool because the total differs from place to place. (Missouri Department of Revenue: Sales/Use Tax)

Groceries are taxed by the state at a reduced rate of 1.225%, three points below the general rate, for food that can be bought with federal food benefits. All local sales taxes continue to apply to food. (Missouri Department of Revenue: Missouri Sales Tax Reduction on Food)

Drugs that can be dispensed only on a prescription are exempt from state and local sales tax, along with insulin, hearing aids and durable medical equipment as Medicare defines it. (Revised Statutes of Missouri 144.030, Exemptions from state and local sales and use taxes)

As a comparative figure, the Tax Foundation puts Missouri’s average combined state and local rate at 8.44% as of January 1, 2026, 12th highest in the country, with an average local rate of 4.22%. (Tax Foundation, State and Local Sales Tax Rates, 2026 (comparative figures))

Missouri’s estate tax statute imposes a tax equal to the federal credit for state death taxes. Because federal law allows no such credit for deaths on or after January 1, 2005, no Missouri estate tax is imposed and no Missouri estate tax return has to be filed for those deaths. The Department of Revenue notes that a return would be required again if the federal credit were reinstated. (Missouri Department of Revenue: Estate Tax, Missouri Estate Tax Filings No Longer Required)

The federal estate tax applies in every state. The estate tax calculator estimates both the federal tax and any state tax.

A plan to phase out the income tax went to voters in 2026. Constitutional Amendment 5, referred by the General Assembly, asked whether to require a legislative phase-out of the individual state income tax based on revenue growth and to authorize the expansion of sales and use taxes. (Missouri Secretary of State: 2026 Ballot Measures (Amendment 5 official ballot title))

The amendment was defeated at the primary election on August 4, 2026. The Secretary of State’s official results show 233,965 votes in favor and 1,168,110 against, about 83% no, so the income tax described on this page continues. (Missouri Secretary of State, Official Results, Primary Election, August 4, 2026)

House Bills 594 and 508, passed in 2025, made the largest recent changes for retirees: the capital gain subtraction for individuals from January 1, 2025, the expanded Property Tax Credit from January 1, 2026, and a sales tax exemption for diapers and incontinence products from August 28, 2025. (Missouri Department of Revenue, 2025 Tax Legislative Changes)

The Department of Revenue’s summary of 2026 legislation contains no change to the individual rate schedule or to the retirement income exemptions. It lists business and agricultural tax credits, sales tax measures and administrative changes. (Missouri Department of Revenue, 2026 Tax Legislative Changes)

A Missouri resident is a person domiciled in the state, or a person domiciled elsewhere who maintains a permanent place of abode in Missouri and spends more than 183 days of the taxable year there. Someone domiciled in Missouri who maintains no permanent place of abode in the state, does maintain one elsewhere and spends no more than 30 days of the year in Missouri is treated as a nonresident. (Revised Statutes of Missouri 143.101, Definitions (resident, nonresident))

Domicile is the place a person intends to be a permanent home, and it continues until the person moves with the true intention of making a permanent home elsewhere. Someone who moves in or out during the year is a part-year resident: the return computes tax on all income, and the filer then either takes a credit for tax paid to another state on Form MO-CR or, using Form MO-NRI, pays only the percentage that matches income earned while a Missouri resident. (Missouri Department of Revenue: Nonresidents and Residents with Other State Income)

Federal law (4 U.S.C. 114) bars a state from taxing the retirement income of a non-resident. A pension or 401(k) built during a Missouri career is therefore taxed only by the state where the retiree lives when it is paid. (4 U.S.C. 114, Limitation on State income taxation of certain pension income)

St. Louis and Kansas City each levy a city earnings tax, which the Missouri Department of Revenue does not collect. (Missouri Department of Revenue: Individual Income Tax FAQs)

State law defines an earnings tax as a tax on salaries, wages, commissions and other compensation earned by residents or earned in the city by nonresidents, and on the net profits of businesses. Pensions, Social Security, retirement account withdrawals, interest and dividends are not in that definition. (Revised Statutes of Missouri 92.111, Limitation on imposition of earnings tax; definitions)

St. Louis sets its earnings tax at one percent, collected from residents of the city wherever their employer is located and from people who work in the city wherever they live. (City of St. Louis Collector of Revenue: Individual Earnings Tax Information)