Mississippi
No state has ended personal income taxes since 1980, but Mississippi and Kentucky may change that
About 45 years have passed since a U.S. state last eliminated its income tax on wages and salaries. But with recent actions in Mississippi and Kentucky, two states now are on a path to do so, if their economies keep growing.
The push to zero out the income tax is perhaps the most aggressive example of a tax-cutting trend that swept across states as they rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic with surging revenues and historic surpluses.
But it comes during a time of greater uncertainty for states, as they wait to see whether President Donald Trump’s cost cutting and tariffs lead to a reduction in federal funding for states and a downturn in the overall economy.
Some fiscal analysts also warn the repeal of income taxes could leave states reliant on other levies, such as sales taxes, that disproportionately affect the poor.
The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution grants Congress the power to levy income taxes. It was ratified by states in 1913. Since then, most states have adopted their own income taxes.
Eight states currently charge no personal income tax: Alaska, Florida, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming. A ninth state, Washington, charges no personal income tax on wages and salaries but does tax certain capital gains income over $270,000.
When Alaska repealed its personal income tax in 1980, it did so because state coffers were overflowing with billions of dollars in oil money.
Though income tax eliminations have been proposed elsewhere, they have not been successful.
“It’s a lot easier to go without an individual income tax if you’ve never levied one,” said Katherine Loughead, a senior analyst and research manager at the nonprofit Tax Foundation. “But once you become dependent on that revenue, it is a lot more difficult to phase out or eliminate that tax.”
Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves recently signed a law gradually reducing the state’s income tax rate from 4% to 3% by 2030 and setting state revenue growth benchmarks that could trigger additional incremental cuts until the tax is eliminated. The law also reduces the sales tax on groceries and raises the gasoline tax.
If cash reserves are fully funded and revenue triggers are met each year, Mississippi’s income tax could be gone by 2040.
Supporters of an income tax repeal hope it will attract both businesses and residents, elevating the state’s economy to the likes of Florida, Tennessee and Texas. Their theory is that when people pay less in income taxes, they will have more money to spend, thus boosting sales tax collections.
The tax repeal “puts us in a rare class of elite, competitive states,” Reeves said in a statement. He added, “Mississippi has the potential to be a magnet for opportunity, for investment, for talent –- and for families looking to build a better life.”
Mississippi is among the most impoverished states and relies heavily on federal funding. Democratic lawmakers warned the state could face a financial crises if cuts in federal funding come at the same time as state income tax reductions.
The income tax provides “a huge percentage of what the state brings in to fund things like schools and health care and services that everybody relies on,” said Neva Butkus, senior analyst at the nonprofit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
A 2022 Kentucky law reduced the state’s income tax rate and set a series of revenue-based triggers that could gradually lower the tax to zero. But unlike in Mississippi, the triggers aren’t automatic. Rather, the Kentucky General Assembly must approve each additional decrease in the tax rate.
That has led to a series of tax-cutting measures, including two new laws this year. One implements the next tax rate reduction from 4% to 3.5% starting in 2026. The second makes it easier to continue cutting the tax rate in the future by allowing smaller incremental reductions if revenue growth isn’t sufficient to trigger a 0.5 percentage point reduction.
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear signed the legislation for next year’s tax cut but let the other measure passed by the Republican-led legislature become law without his signature. Beshear called it a “bait-and-switch” bill, contending lawmakers had assured the guardrails for income tax reductions would remain in place while pushing for the 2026 tax cut, then later in the session altered the triggers for future years.
New Hampshire and Tennessee already did not tax income from wages and salaries, but both states had taxed certain types of income.
In 2021, Tennessee ended an income tax on interest from bonds and stock dividends that had been levied since 1929.
New Hampshire halted its tax on interest and dividends at the start of this year.
Some other states also are pushing to repeal income taxes The Oklahoma House passed legislation in March that would gradually cut the personal income tax rate to zero if revenue growth benchmarks are met. That bill now is in the Senate.
New Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Republican, also wants to phase out the income tax. The House and Senate have advanced legislation that would take an incremental step by exempting capital gains income from taxes.
STARKVILLE — Kamario Taylor stepped to his left in the pocket, then the Mississippi State football quarterback side-stepped to his right to make three Ole Miss defenders whiff on a sack.
He dashed up field with just one more defender to beat. Taylor juked him, scoring a 35-yard rushing touchdown.
That’s the player MSU coach Jeff Lebby said is the center of the 2026 roster rebuild on Nov. 28.
It was after Taylor made his first career start in the Egg Bowl. Although it didn’t lead to a win, the 38-19 loss for the Bulldogs (5-7, 1-7 SEC) to No. 6 Ole Miss (11-1, 10-1) showed a potential future star for MSU at quarterback.
“As we continue to build it the right way and build these pieces of the roster around (Taylor) that’s going to be really important,” Lebby said. “I think we got somebody that’s going to catch a snap every single down and is going to be an elite player in this conference and in America.
“So building it the right way around him, creating stability for him will be huge. We’ve got to go get the pieces up front, offensively, and that will be a huge point of emphasis as we ready for the portal piece of it.”
Evaluating Kamario Taylor’s first Mississippi State start
The Egg Bowl wasn’t the first extended playing time this season for Taylor, a four-star freshman from Noxubee County.
He replaced starter Blake Shapen twice in the final month of the season because of injuries. Taylor played in all but two games, mainly for his running ability.
The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Taylor led MSU to a 97-yard opening drive touchdown against Ole Miss. He scored on a 22-yard rushing touchdown. The offense struggled after that though, scoring six points until Taylor’s 35-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter.
“I feel like I could’ve executed a lot better,” Taylor said. “We left some stuff on the field. I wish I could get some plays back. Going into this, Coach Lebby made sure I was confident and Blake was very supportive of me, helping me learn like where they are going and what they’re trying to do to try to mess with me. He was very supportive, so I went into the game very confident.”
Taylor completed 15 of 31 passes for 178 yards and one interception on a pass that was tipped twice, one play after Taylor ran for a 39-yard gain. He rushed for 173 yards and two touchdowns, the first MSU quarterback since Garrett Schrader in 2019 to have over 100 rushing yards in a game.
It wasn’t perfect, as demonstrated by his completion percentage below 50%. Taylor will have to keep improving his accuracy. But the play-making ability was evident as he eluded tackles. The debut start was enough to give hope for Mississippi State in 2026.
“Moving forward, we are going to do some special things at Davis Wade,” Taylor said. “We trust Coach Lebby 100%. We know he’s going to put us in the right positions, so we just got to execute.”
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for The Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@usatodayco.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
Mississippi State’s 38-19 loss to No. 7 Ole Miss in Friday’s Egg Bowl didn’t completely end its season.
At 5-7, if there aren’t enough six-win teams to fill out the schedule of bowl games, the Bulldogs could be invited to a bowl game.
However, it’s not very likely to happen and Friday is most likely the end of Mississippi State’s 2025 season.
It was a disappointing season, but there were some good things that should give the Bulldogs, and their fans hope for an even better 2026 season.
Before we get too far into offseason storylines, let’s take a look back at the season and identify the good, bad and ugly things from Mississippi State’s season.
Big Passing Plays
Brenen Thompson and Anthony Evans III were two of the best transfer portal additions the Bulldogs made last offseason. A highlight reel play was always a possibility whenever they touched the ball.
Thompson was especially great. He had a team-high six touchdown receptions and 948 receiving yards. Most of this touchdown catches came on gains of at least 20 yards.
The explosive passing game was fun to see when it was working and showed some potential for what a Jeff Lebby offense can look like in Starkville.
Kamario Taylor
The true freshman quarterback is going to be main source of hope for Mississippi State fans. He was used sparingly until the Egg Bowl when he made his first start.
Against the Rebels, Taylor ran for 173 yards and two touchdowns, while also completing 15-of-31 passes for 178 yards and an interception (that wasn’t really his fault).
Taylor’s the highest-rated high school quarterback to ever sign with Mississippi State and he showed flashes of greatness.
Offensive line play
One of the biggest reasons the Bulldogs won only two games was the play of its offensive line. They had rushers averaging just 3.9 yards per carry and gave up 38 sacks.
Mississippi State’s 2025 offensive line gave up 40 sacks.
Injuries certainly played a role in the season. Blake Steen played just one game and Albert Reese IV missed multiple games.
But it’s concerning how the offensive line didn’t improve from last season despite bringing in a new offensive line coach.
It should’ve been a red flag when Mississippi State signed several offensive lineman after spring practices. Why wasn’t the need identified during the winter transfer portal window?
Run defense and pass rush
Opponents averaged nearly 190 rushing yards a game against Mississippi State’s defense. That’s a slight improvement on last season that had an average north of 200.
But anyone that saw the Bulldogs’ defense in the last few weeks saw teams run the ball at-will. Missouri’s Ahmad Hardy ran for 300 yards.
As for the pass rush, consider this: Will Whitson played a game and a half and finished second on the team in sacks, just a half sack behind the leader Nic Mitchell.
Mississippi State recorded 20 sacks this season, which doubled last season’s total.
But the improvements weren’t enough and serious, major changes need to be made on the defensive side.
STARKVILLE — Mississippi State football coach Jeff Lebby said he thought hard about the team’s quarterback situation the day after its 49-27 loss to Missouri on Nov. 15.
Then he made the decision that many fans had been wanting. He benched quarterback Blake Shapen for freshman Kamario Taylor.
The Bulldogs kept the decision under wraps until Taylor trotted onto the field as the starter in the 2025 Egg Bowl. It was his first career start as MSU (5-7, 1-7 SEC) lost 38-19 to No. 6 Ole Miss (11-1, 7-1) at Davis Wade Stadium on Nov. 28.
Shapen had been Mississippi State’s quarterback in all of the other games.
“Really, really hard decision for me,” Lebby said. “As we got back from Missouri, thought about it nonstop on Sunday. For me, as hard as it was to make, the results hadn’t been what we needed. For us, I felt like things had not been great for us up front. Who’s the guy that has the ability to make a couple of plays when things aren’t perfect?
“(Taylor) had done some good things, and I felt like it was the right time. For me, it was incredibly hard because of my love for Blake, his toughness and how he has led and continued to be exactly who he’s supposed to be. For me, really hard, but beginning of last week we made that decision.”
Taylor, a former four-star recruit from Noxubee County, led MSU on an opening-drive touchdown, but the offense was inconsistent for the rest of the game until a second touchdown in the fourth quarter.
The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Taylor completed 15 of 31 pass attempts for 178 yards and one interception that tipped off the hands of two players. Where he was most impactful though was as a runner with 173 yards and two touchdowns.
“I was kind of nervous when he announced it,” Taylor said. “He didn’t announce it to the whole team, but he just told me. He asked me if I was nervous, and I told him nah, I wasn’t. But like, I was nervous.
“I knew that God gave me this ability to go showcase the things he allows me to do. I was pretty confident, but I was nervous, especially playing in a big game like that.”
How Blake Shapen handled getting benched for Kamario Taylor
Shapen not playing in the Egg Bowl meant the graduate senior’s career ended with a benching.
He played four seasons at Baylor before transferring to MSU in 2024. Shapen was the starter last season too, until suffering a season-ending fractured shoulder blade in Week 4.
“I’m sure really hard,” Lebby said. “Incredibly hard. Blake’s poured a lot into this and he’s been an unbelievably consistent person inside our building for two years. And he’s been through a lot.
“For him not to have the ability to go do it today is hard for him. And it’s hard for me because of who he’s been, his toughness and how he has absolutely laid it on the line for me and this university. It’s really hard for him and hate that this was the end for him.”
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for The Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@usatodayco.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
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