How Missouri taxes retirement income

Some 2026 figures pending confirmation Tax year 2026 · research last updated October 2, 2026

Missouri doesn't tax Social Security benefits.
Exclusions and subtractions for retirement income (details below):
- Public pension exemption: at most $48,967 per person.
- Private pension exemption: at most $6,000 per person, income limits apply.
- Military retirement subtraction.
Rates for 2026: 0% to 4.7%, graduated.

At a glance

Income tax	Yes
Rates (2026)	0% to 4.7%, graduated
Starts from	Federal adjusted gross income (AGI)
Standard deduction	$16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly (same as federal)
Age 65 and older	$1,650 extra deduction per person
Social Security	Not taxed
Retirement income exclusions	3 (see below)
Roth conversions	Taxable
Capital gains	Special treatment (see below)
Local income tax	Yes, in some places (see below)

Tax rates

Brackets apply to Missouri taxable income. Other filing statuses are in the rules reference.

Rate	Single: taxable income	Married filing jointly: taxable income
0%	$0 to $1,348	$0 to $1,348
2%	$1,348 to $2,696	$1,348 to $2,696
2.5%	$2,696 to $4,044	$2,696 to $4,044
3%	$4,044 to $5,392	$4,044 to $5,392
3.5%	$5,392 to $6,740	$5,392 to $6,740
4%	$6,740 to $8,088	$6,740 to $8,088
4.5%	$8,088 to $9,436	$8,088 to $9,436
4.7%	$9,436 and up	$9,436 and up

Missouri doesn't tax Social Security benefits.

Taxable Social Security included in federal AGI is fully subtracted (Form MO-A Part 3 Section C) for recipients age 62 or older by Dec 31 (SSDI recipients regardless of age); no income limit for tax years 2024+. Allocated between spouses by each spouse's share of benefits.

Pensions, IRAs and 401(k)s

Public pension exemption (MO-A Part 3 Section A)

Limit: $48,967 per person · Applies to: government pensions

Per spouse: lesser of taxable pension from any federal, state or local government (Form 1040 line 5b; excludes military, which has its own 100% subtraction) or the maximum Social Security benefit for the year ($48,967 for TY2026 per the DOR Pension FAQ, https://dor.mo.gov/faq/taxation/individual/pension.html; $47,633 for 2025), minus that spouse's Social Security exemption claimed in Section C (floor 0). No income limit on the 2025 form.

Private pension exemption (MO-A Part 3 Section B)

Limit: $6,000 per person · Applies to: pensions, annuities, IRA distributions, 401(k) distributions, 403b, Roth conversions

Per spouse: lesser of taxable private pension/annuity/IRA/401(k) income (Form 1040 lines 4b and 5b, excluding public pensions) or $6,000; sum for both spouses, then subtract the income excess above. Effectively a low-income benefit.

Income limit: Total private exemption reduced dollar-for-dollar by (Missouri AGI - taxable Social Security) above $32,000 (married filing combined), $25,000 (single/HOH/QSS), $16,000 (MFS); fully gone $12,000 (joint, both claiming) or $6,000 (single) above those levels.

Military retirement subtraction

Applies to: military pensions

100% of military retirement benefits included in federal AGI (MO-A Part 1). Noted for completeness.

Roth conversions

A Roth conversion counts as taxable income for Missouri. Whether a retirement income exclusion can cover part of it depends on the rules above.

Capital gains

Fully exempt from tax year 2025: 100% of net capital gain reported on federal Form 1040 line 7a (short- and long-term, including capital gain distributions) is subtracted from federal AGI (MO-A Part 1 line 18; HB 594 of 2025, RSMo 143.121). If line 7a is negative, the subtraction is $0 (net capital losses still reduce federal AGI and are not added back). Qualified dividends are NOT capital gains for this purpose and remain taxable.

Credits and relief for older residents

Federal income tax deduction. Missouri allows a deduction for a percentage of federal income tax liability, capped at $5,000 ($10,000 combined): 35% if Missouri AGI is $25,000 or less, 25% for $25,001-$50,000, 15% for $50,001-$100,000, 5% for $100,001-$125,000, 0% for $125,001 or more (2025 MO-1040 line 12).
Property Tax Credit (Form MO-PTS/MO-PTC, 'circuit breaker'). Refundable credit up to $1,100 of real estate tax paid (owners, per 2025 MO-PTS) / $750 (renters) for age 65+ (or disabled) with household income under statutory limits (includes nontaxable Social Security). Amounts not re-verified here.

Local income taxes

Kansas City and St. Louis City levy a 1% earnings tax on residents' earned income (wages, self-employment/business net profits) — not on pensions, IRA distributions, Social Security, interest, dividends or capital gains. Not modeled.

More detail from our research notes

Brackets are indexed annually and apply to EACH spouse separately on a married-filing-combined return: Missouri taxable income is allocated between spouses by each spouse's share of Missouri AGI (MO-1040 lines 29Y/29S) and tax is computed separately for each and added, so a joint couple effectively gets two sets of low brackets (the joint rows above therefore equal the single rows; Taxtirement must split). The 2026 bracket thresholds are from the 2026 withholding formula annual table (the 2026 MO-1040 tax chart, which rounds base amounts to whole dollars, is not yet published). Top rate 4.7% (reduced from 4.8% effective 2025 via SB 3 (2022) revenue triggers; further 0.1-point cuts only if triggers are met). Standard deduction equals the federal standard deduction including the federal additional amount for age 65+/blind (2026: $1,650 per married spouse, $2,050 single/HOH — age65.extraDeduction holds the married amount); the new federal $6,000 senior deduction and other OBBBA deductions are NOT allowed on the Missouri return. Missouri itemized deductions allowed only if itemized federally (state income taxes removed). No personal exemption. Traditional IRA distributions and Roth conversions are ordinary income except for the small, income-limited $6,000 private pension exemption. Social Security (age 62+) and net capital gains are fully exempt, which makes Missouri very favorable for portfolio-funded retirees.

Pending confirmation

These points were still being confirmed against Missouri's published 2026 forms when this page was built. Most are waiting on forms the state publishes around the turn of the year.

4 items

2026 bracket base amounts: official chart rounds cumulative base tax to whole dollars (e.g., $263 at $9,436), so tax may differ by ~$1 from the unrounded computation.
Property Tax Credit maximums and income limits not verified from a primary source. Note: HB 594 & 508 (2025) raise the income limits and credit amounts and index them from TY2026 (DOR 2026 legislative changes); the amounts appear on the 2026 MO-PTC/MO-PTS forms (expected December 2026-January 2027, https://dor.mo.gov/forms/). Not modeled in Taxtirement.
2026 bracket thresholds come from the 2026 withholding formula; the 2026 MO-1040 tax chart (expected December 2026, https://dor.mo.gov/forms/) is the official liability table. 2027 brackets, standard deduction and public pension cap (max SS benefit) are indexed: DOR publishes the 2027 withholding formula in December 2026 and updates the Pension FAQ table.
Capital gains subtraction: confirm treatment of capital gain distributions reported directly on line 7a and of gains from Form 4797 (DOR instructions reference line 7a only).

Sources

Every figure comes from these documents, mostly the state's own forms, instructions and statutes.

DOR Pension FAQ, 'How much is the maximum social security benefit amount?' table: 2025 $47,633, 2026 $48,967 (public pension cap). Local copy (fetched 2026-10-02)https://dor.mo.gov/faq/taxation/individual/pension.html
IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 sec. 4: 2026 additional standard deduction for aged/blind $1,650, $2,050 if unmarried (Missouri uses the federal amount). Local copyhttps://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-32.pdf
2027 outlook: RSMo 143.011.4 rate-cut trigger ; OA June 2026 general revenue report, FY2026 net GR down 2.8% so no cut for TY2027 ; DOR 2026 legislative changes, no individual rate/retiree changehttps://oa.mo.gov/node/56971
2026 withholding formula: 2026 bracket thresholds (annual payroll table), 4.7% top rate, 2026 standard deduction amountshttps://dor.mo.gov/forms/Withholding%20Formula_2026.pdf
2025 year changes: 100% capital gains subtraction, standard deduction incl. 65+/blind additional, federal OBBBA deductions not allowedhttps://dor.mo.gov/taxation/individual/tax-types/income/year-changes/
2025 MO-1040 instructions: tax chart and worksheet examples, MO-A Part 1 line 18 capital gain, Part 3 public/private pension and Social Security calculations ($47,633, $6,000, $32,000/$25,000/$16,000), per-spouse tax computation, federal tax deduction…; Itemized deductions and premium subtraction (group-d, 2026-10-02): 2025 MO-1040 instructions line 14 p.8, MO-A Part 2 lines 1-12 and Net State Income Taxes worksheet (pro rata 5e x 5a / 5d), lines 2-6 Social Security tax up to $10,918 and Medicare tax…https://dor.mo.gov/forms/MO-1040%20Instructions_2025.pdf

Taxtirement's Missouri calculation is also checked against a second, independent implementation on 1,000 random households. How we check our numbers.

See your own years. Taxtirement applies these Missouri rules, and the federal and Medicare rules, to your household for every year of retirement, and shows the calculation behind each number. Coming November 2026 for iPhone, iPad and Mac.

This page summarizes Missouri's 2026 rules as Taxtirement applies them, for education and planning. It isn't tax advice, and it doesn't cover every situation (for example part-year residents, businesses or military-only provisions). Rules change; check the state's current instructions, or a tax professional, before you act. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.