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The Missouri tax rate for 2026 starts at a 4.225% state sales tax, the same rate Missouri has charged for years. Qualifying grocery food gets a reduced 1.225% state rate. Cities, counties and special districts then add their own sales and use taxes, so the rate on a receipt depends on the delivery address. That local layer is where most Missouri sellers make mistakes.
Voters will also decide in November 2026 whether to phase the income tax out and let lawmakers widen the sales tax base, which would change the sales tax rules covered below.
| Tax | 2026 rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| State sales and use tax, general | 4.225% | Applies statewide on taxable retail sales |
| State rate on qualifying food | 1.225% | Food eligible for SNAP purchase, for home consumption |
| Local sales tax | Varies by city, county, district | Set by voters, listed in DOR quarterly rate tables |
| Local use tax | Varies, only where adopted | Applies to remote sales and untaxed purchases |
The state rate is not where your exposure sits. Local add-ons often double the state rate or more, and the highest stacks come from special districts layered on county and city taxes. Rates change on the first day of a calendar quarter after local elections, and the Missouri Department of Revenue publishes sales and use tax rate tables each quarter. Pull the table for the quarter you are filing, never last year's.
Each Missouri sale can carry several local levies: county general, city general, county or city capital improvement and transportation taxes, and special districts such as transportation development districts (TDDs) and community improvement districts (CIDs). A TDD or CID can cover a single shopping center, so two stores a mile apart can charge different rates.
Missouri sourcing depends on the type of sale. In-state retail sales are taxed at the seller's location rate. Remote sellers collecting vendor's use tax charge the rate at the Missouri address where the item is delivered. If you sell both ways, your system needs both logic paths. Our explainer on destination-based and origin-based sourcing covers the general rules.
Worked example: a furniture store sells a $2,400 sofa from its showroom. The state rate is 4.225%, and suppose the DOR table lists 3.5% of county and city taxes plus a 1% CID levy for that address. The combined rate is 8.725%, so the tax is $209.40. The same sofa shipped from a warehouse in another county carries that county's rate instead, which is why each location gets its own line on the return.
Local use tax is separate from local sales tax. A city or county can only collect use tax if its voters adopted one. Where none exists, a remote seller collects only the 4.225% state use tax on that shipment.
Missouri taxes groceries, but at a reduced state rate of 1.225% (the general 4.225% rate less 3 points). Qualifying food is food eligible for purchase with SNAP benefits, including seeds and plants for growing food at home. Local governments apply their own rates on top, and many charge the full local rate on food.
Restaurants are where this gets tricky. A business qualifies for the reduced rate on food only if its sales of prepared food and drink for immediate consumption are 80% or less of total gross receipts. A grocery store with a deli counter usually qualifies. A restaurant that sells a few retail jars of sauce usually does not. Hot prepared meals, alcohol, and food sold at places of amusement are taxed at the full rate.
Since January 1, 2023, remote sellers without a physical presence in Missouri must collect vendor's use tax once their gross receipts from taxable sales delivered into Missouri exceed $100,000. The DOR's remote seller FAQ describes a quarterly test: at the end of each calendar quarter, look back over the preceding 12 months. Once over $100,000, you must start collecting no later than three months after that quarter closes.
Worked example: an Ohio retailer ships $70,000 of taxable goods into Missouri in calendar 2025 and $45,000 in January to March 2026. At March 31, 2026, its trailing 12-month total passes $100,000, so it registers and starts collecting by July 1, 2026.
Missouri counts only taxable sales, has no transaction-count test, and treats marketplace facilitators as the collecting party for sales they facilitate. Physical presence (inventory, employees, an office) still creates nexus on its own with no dollar threshold. For how Missouri fits into a multi-state footprint, see our guide to economic nexus for growing businesses.
Register online through the DOR's MyTax Missouri portal before your first taxable sale. You'll need your FEIN, ownership details, NAICS code, every Missouri business location and an estimate of monthly sales. In-state sellers register each physical location separately because each can carry a different local rate.
There is no fee to register. Registration and the permit are different things from a resale certificate, which is a common point of confusion; our piece on resale certificates vs sales tax permits separates the two.
Missouri taxes retail sales of tangible personal property and a limited set of services, including utilities, telecommunications, admissions to places of amusement and some lodging. Most professional and personal services are not taxable.
Software is a frequent question. Missouri generally doesn't tax SaaS; confirm with a DOR letter ruling for your facts. Canned software sold on physical media is treated as tangible personal property. Our overview of SaaS sales tax by state shows how Missouri compares with neighbors.
Main exemptions businesses use:
A missing or incomplete certificate turns an exempt sale into a taxable one on audit. Read why an exemption certificate is the seller's audit shield.
The DOR's filing guidance assigns your frequency based on state tax collected (local tax is excluded from the test) and reviews it each year.
| Frequency | State tax collected | Return due |
|---|---|---|
| Quarter-monthly | Average $15,000+ a month in at least 6 of the prior 12 months | Payments during the month, plus a monthly return |
| Monthly | $500 or more a month | 20th of the following month; last day of the next month for March, June, September and December |
| Quarterly | Less than $500 a month | Last day of the month after the quarter ends |
| Annual | Less than $200 a quarter | January 31 of the following year |
Older DOR forms show lower annual cutoffs ($45 or $100 a quarter), so follow the frequency on your registration notice. Due dates that fall on a weekend or state holiday move to the next business day.
File and pay on time and Missouri lets you keep a 2% timely payment allowance. Miss the deadline and you lose it, then pay additions to tax: 5% per month for failure to file, capped at 25%, or a flat 5% if you filed on time but paid late, plus interest. For a monthly filer owing $6,000 a month, a return filed 40 days late costs the lost allowance plus a 10% addition, about $720 before interest.
Use tax goes on the same return. If you bought equipment from an out-of-state vendor who charged no Missouri tax, you owe use tax at your location's rate. If an audit notice does arrive, our guide on handling a sales tax audit explains what to pull together.
Missouri runs two holidays a year:
Report total gross receipts and take the holiday sales as a deduction on the return. Our 2026 sales tax holiday guide compares Missouri with other states.
On the November 2026 ballot, Amendment 5 would direct the legislature to phase out the individual income tax as revenue grows and would let lawmakers raise the sales tax rate or broaden its base to replace that revenue. Missouri's constitution has barred new sales taxes on services since 2016, so a yes vote reopens that question. If it passes, sellers of currently untaxed services should expect to watch the legislature closely in 2027. The measure is listed on the Secretary of State's 2026 ballot measures page.
Rate accuracy is the hardest part in Missouri. Address-level software beats ZIP-code lookups because TDD and CID boundaries ignore ZIP lines; our sales tax automation software comparison ranks the main tools. If you crossed the $100,000 threshold in a past year and never registered, a voluntary disclosure agreement usually limits the lookback and waives penalties. Missouri borders eight states, so many sellers here register in more than one. Each neighbor sets its own threshold, food rate and local rules, and Tennessee in particular caps the local tax on single items, which Missouri does not. Our Tennessee sales tax guide covers that rule. Build a one-page matrix per state with rate source, filing frequency and due date, and review it each quarter when Missouri's new rate table posts. Selling into Oklahoma as well? Compare our Oklahoma sales tax guide.
The state use tax rate is 4.225%, matching the sales tax rate. Local use tax applies only where a city or county has adopted one, so the combined use tax rate at a given address can be lower than the sales tax rate there.
The state rate is 4.225%, or 1.225% on qualifying food. Local sales taxes are added by location, so the rate you charge is the combined rate for the store or delivery address in that quarter's DOR rate table.
It depends on how the charge is stated and whether the buyer can avoid it. Missouri courts and DOR rulings have treated separately stated, optional delivery charges differently from mandatory ones folded into the price, so get a ruling or advice for your fact pattern.
You need one if you have physical presence in Missouri or your taxable sales into the state topped $100,000 over the trailing 12 months. If you sell only through a marketplace that collects for you, the marketplace handles those sales.
No statewide rate change is scheduled. Local rates change quarterly after elections, and Amendment 5 would allow future increases or a broader base only if voters approve it and the legislature acts.
Madras Accountancy handles Missouri registration, rate mapping, monthly returns and nexus reviews for businesses and the CPA firms that serve them. Contact our team to set up 2026 Missouri compliance.
The section 4960 excise tax is 21% of nonprofit pay over $1M. From 2026 it covers all employees. See the medical carve-outs, Form 4720 and a worked example.
The paid family and medical leave tax credit is permanent from 2026. See the 12.5% to 25% rates, the premium option, the 6-month rule and how Form 8994 works.
Opportunity zones become permanent in 2027 under the One Big Beautiful Bill. See the new deferral, rural bonus, and the 2026 handoff.
