Get your tax IDs in Missouri

An EIN, if you need one, takes minutes online. Missouri then adds a tax account for the taxes that actually apply, unemployment tax once you are liable, and a new-hire report once you hire. Do not open an account just to have the number.

What’s different in Missouri

• Corporation income tax is 4%⁸. That rate is for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2020. The franchise tax is not imposed for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2016⁹.
• Individual income tax is graduated. On the 2026 estimated-tax chart, the top line is 4.7% of the excess over $9,436¹¹. The lower lines are on that same chart.
• Sales tax is the state rate plus local tax at the seller’s location. The state piece is 4.225%³. A business with no Missouri location collects use tax once its taxable sales into the state pass $100,000⁵, under the test in RSMo 144.605.
• An LLC follows its federal tax classification. That covers income tax, sales tax, and unemployment tax.
• Unemployment tax is the employer’s alone. For 2026, the wage base is the first $9,000¹⁷ of each employee’s wages.

Do this

1. Get an EIN from the IRS if you need one. It is free and, if approved, issued immediately¹⁸ online. You will need it to hire, to open many bank accounts, and to file unemployment reports. A sole proprietor with no employees can often use a Social Security number for federal tax. Don’t pay a website to apply for you.
2. Register the Missouri taxes that apply, in MyTax Missouri. The online registration covers sales tax, vendor's use tax, consumer's use tax, withholding, unemployment tax, the tire and lead-acid battery fee, and corporation income tax¹. The department says to allow 2 to 3 business days to process an online registration. Paper registration is Form 2643.
3. If you sell taxable goods or taxable services in Missouri and you have a location here, get the retail sales license before you sell. Selling without one can mean a penalty of $500 for the first day, $100 for each day after that, and not more than $10,000. It is also a misdemeanor². The state rate is 4.225%. Cities, counties, and certain districts add their own sales tax. The combined rate is the one in effect at the seller's location. The state and local tax are paid together to the Department of Revenue. Use tax is separate. Use tax uses the combined rate where the property is stored, used, or consumed³. It does not apply when the purchase was from a Missouri retailer and Missouri sales tax applied. Returns are still filed when you have no tax to report. Monthly returns are due on or before the last day of the following month. Quarterly returns are due on or before the last day of the month after the quarter ends. Annual returns are due on or before January 31 of the following year. If the due date is a Saturday, Sunday, or Missouri holiday, the return is due the next business day. A return filed and paid on time gets 2%⁴ off the tax due. The department assigns the filing frequency. Use the one on your account.
4. If you sell into Missouri and you have no location here, check the remote-seller test before you collect anything. A remote seller is a seller of tangible personal property into Missouri that has no physical presence in the state. The test is set by statute, RSMo 144.605. A seller engages in business in Missouri once its taxable sales of tangible goods delivered into the state exceed $100,000 in the previous calendar year or the current calendar year. After each calendar quarter, the seller checks the 12 months that ended with that quarter. If it was over, it collects and remits for at least 12 months, starting no later than three months after that quarter, and keeps collecting while it still does business here⁷. The department’s remote-seller FAQ and its use-tax rule each describe part of that test, in different words. The statute has the whole of it. The sales-tax overview says Missouri cannot require an out-of-state company without nexus, or a direct connection with the state, to collect use tax³. It does not print the dollar test. A seller who sells only through a marketplace facilitator does not register for those sales. Sales you make on your own are still yours⁵. If you also sell on your own, and the combined receipts cross the threshold, you register for the sales the facilitator does not report.
5. If the seller does not collect use tax, the buyer can still owe it. A purchaser files a use tax return if purchases subject to use tax add up to more than $2,000 in a calendar year and the seller did not collect the tax³.
6. If you expect to owe individual income tax of $100 or more, calendar the estimates. They are due April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15. If a due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the next business day is on time. The 2026 chart is graduated, and the top line is 4.7% of the excess over $9,436. This page does not compute the tax. A farmer whose estimated Missouri gross income from farming is at least two-thirds of estimated Missouri gross income can pay by January 15, or file and pay in full by March 1¹¹. The department’s 2026 tax calendar lists calendar-year Form MO-1040 on April 15, 2026, and an extended return on October 15, 2026¹². That calendar is the 2026 list. A later year can move a date that falls on a weekend.
7. If the business is taxed as a C corporation, calendar the corporation return. A C corporation registers and files if it must file a federal income tax return and has Missouri-source gross income of $100 or more². The rate is 4%. The return is due the 15th day of the fourth month after the taxable year ends⁸. The 2026 tax calendar lists calendar-year Forms MO-1120 and MO-1120S on April 15, 2026, and an extended return on October 15, 2026¹². The franchise tax is not imposed for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2016⁹.
8. If the business elected S status, it still has a Missouri filing. An S corporation registers and files if it files a federal Form 1120-S and it has a Missouri resident shareholder or any Missouri-source income². The election is federal, on Form 2553¹⁹. This page does not pick it.
9. If the business is an LLC, follow the federal classification. For income tax, sales tax, and unemployment tax, an LLC is classified the same way it is classified for federal income tax¹⁰. A single-member LLC that is disregarded for federal tax does not, on these pages, get its own Missouri corporation return. The owner may still have the individual return in step 6.
10. Register for withholding when you pay wages for work in Missouri. Every employer who pays wages to an employee working in Missouri must register with the Department of Revenue. The 2026 employer guide says the return is due the 15th day of the next month, except the third month of a quarter, which is due the last day of the next month¹³. Some employers remit more often. Use the frequency on the account. Report a new hire within 20 days of hiring, by sending a copy of Form MO W-4 to the Department of Revenue¹⁴.
11. Register for unemployment tax when you become liable, not on the day you form the company. Do it within 30 days of the day you become liable, at the online business registration or in UInteract. A general business employer becomes liable at $1,500 of wages in a calendar quarter, or a worker on some part of a day in each of 20 different weeks in a calendar year, or federal unemployment tax liability with a worker in Missouri. A 501(c)(3) becomes liable at four or more workers on some part of a day in 20 different weeks of a calendar year. A household employer becomes liable at $1,000 of cash wages in a calendar quarter. A farm becomes liable at 10 or more workers in 20 different weeks, or $20,000 of cash wages in a calendar quarter. A government employer becomes liable at one worker, whatever the wages or the number of weeks¹⁵. Taking over a liable employer is its own test. Read the liability page for that one. The employee does not pay this tax. It cannot be taken out of wages²⁰. For 2026, the wage base is $9,000¹⁷. A new employer pays 2.376% for mining, construction, and all other new employers, and 1.00% for a 501(c)(3), in both 2026 and 2027. The table already includes the contribution rate adjustment. Before that adjustment, a new employer is assigned the prior-year average rate for its industry classification, or 2.7%, whichever is higher. An experience rate comes generally after two full calendar years of liability¹⁶.

What you get back

An EIN from the IRS if you applied, a Missouri tax account only for the taxes you registered, and an unemployment account once the Division of Employment Security issues one. There is no separate state business-license number in this step. Local licenses and profession licenses are on Licenses and permits.