ITEP Work in Action
ITEP’s Eli Byerly-Duke on Oklahoma’s Sales Tax Relief Credit
October 28, 2024
On October 23, 2024, ITEP Policy Analyst Eli Byerly-Duke presented to an interim study in the Oklahoma House focused on modernizing the Sales Tax Relief Credit. Click here for slides Click here for video (his remarks begin around the 1:06:00 mark)
Oklahoma Policy Institute: Economic Projections for Asylum Seekers and New Immigrants in Oklahoma
February 12, 2024
Immigration is hardly a new social trend in the state of Oklahoma. Of the four million people living in the state, 243,000 are immigrants, or six percent of the total population, according to the 2022 American Community Survey.
Oklahoma Policy Institute: Flat Tax, Tax Triggers Would Make Oklahoma’s Tax System Less Fair, Less Adequate, and less stable
May 16, 2023
With less than two weeks left in the 2023 legislative session, lawmakers have very little time remaining to reach agreement on, reveal, and adopt the Fiscal Year 2024 state budget. Bills that would change tax policy are typically unveiled as part of the budget package. Though they have not yet been introduced, this year’s budget […]
Oklahoma Policy Institute: Tax Proposals This Session Fail to Deliver Inflation Relief, Jeopardize State’s Long-term Fiscal Health
April 6, 2023
With $10.8 billion in recurring revenue and at least $1.6 billion in one-time funds, the Oklahoma Legislature has significant fiscal decisions to make this session. Oklahoma leaders have repeatedly stated their intentions, including House Speaker Charles McCall who wants to provide “inflation relief” and Gov. Kevin Stitt who heralds a commitment to “fiscal discipline.” However, most of […]
Oklahoma Policy Institute: The Needs of Everyday Oklahomans Outweigh Tax Cuts that Benefit the Wealthy
February 13, 2023
As Oklahoma’s 2023 legislative session begins, the perennial push for tax cuts that would shrink state revenue will likely return. In 2022, leaders of the Oklahoma House of Representatives championed tax cuts – primarily focusing on reducing the personal income tax, the corporate income tax, and the sales tax on groceries. Ultimately, the legislative session ended without any major […]
Oklahoma Policy Institute: Strengthening the Grocery Tax Credit Would Provide Fiscally Smart Tax Relief to Working Oklahomans
February 14, 2022
Oklahoma can effectively eliminate the state and local sales tax on groceries for most low-income families by strengthening the Sales Tax Relief Credit. At a time when many Oklahomans are struggling to put food on the table and are at risk of eviction, a more robust Sales Tax Relief Credit can help put money back into the pockets […]
Oklahoma Policy Institute: A Budget and Tax Roadmap for Oklahoma
October 27, 2021
A more just tax system will level the playing field for all Oklahomans, providing more opportunity to save and build wealth. It will also benefit the economy, as equal opportunity for individuals expands the economy as a whole. The state must continue providing and expanding shared services that are often lifelines for low-income individuals, but […]
The Journal Record: Prosperity Policy: An Upside-down Tax System
October 24, 2018
A modestly progressive income tax slightly offsets our regressive sales taxes. But Oklahoma lawmakers cut our top income tax rate by nearly 25 percent since 2004, further tipping the scales to the wealthiest households. Then while grappling with massive budget shortfalls caused in part by these tax cuts, lawmakers took aim at measures that primarily benefit low- and middle-income working families by making the state Earned Income Tax Credit non-refundable and freezing the state standard deduction, while leaving cuts to the top income tax rate in place.
Enid News & Eagle: A Low Tax State for Only Some Oklahomans
October 23, 2018
While Oklahoma has a reputation as a low tax state, poor and middle-income Oklahomans are actually paying a greater share of their income in taxes than the national average, while the richest 5 percent of households — with annual incomes of $194,500 or more — pay less.
Tulsa World: Political Notebook: Report Says Oklahoma’s State and Local Taxes Among the Most Regressive in the Nation
October 21, 2018
Oklahoma’s state and local taxes are among the most regressive in the country, according to a report released last week by the Institute on Taxation and Policy.
Oklahoma Policy Institute: New Analysis: Low-income Taxpayers in Oklahoma Pay More than Twice the Tax Rate Paid by the Richest Oklahomans
October 17, 2018
While Oklahoma has a reputation as a low tax state, poor and middle-income Oklahomans are actually paying a greater share of their income in taxes than the national average, while the richest 5 percent of households — with annual incomes of $194,500 or more — pay less.
Oklahoma Policy Institute: On Immigration Rhetoric, Consider the Facts
June 13, 2018
These undocumented Oklahomans currently contribute about $85 million in state and local taxes per year, according to our best estimates. They pay sales tax directly when they purchase goods and services, just like the rest of us, and they pay property taxes through owning a home or paying rent. Although they are not technically eligible […]
Oklahoma Policy Institute: To Improve Public Safety and Insurance rates, Allow Undocumented Oklahomans to Drive Legally
June 8, 2018
Oklahoma’s approximately 95,000 undocumented immigrants are a force in Oklahoma’s economy, accounting for about 1 in 30 members of the workforce and contributing roughly $85 million in state and local taxes annually. But despite their positive economic contributions, undocumented residents face arrest and/or deportation for doing something that many Oklahomans do every day: driving. Read […]
Vox: How Tax Cuts for the Rich Led to the Oklahoma Teachers Strike
April 9, 2018
Before the strike last week, the state legislature tried to avert the work stoppage by passing a $447 million tax increase that effectively gives teachers an average annual pay bump of $6,000. That concession from the state legislature didn’t meet the teachers’ full demands, but it was a huge win considering the state legislature hadn’t approved a tax increase since 1990.
Oklahoma Policy Institute: Itemized Deduction Reform is a Promising State Budget Solution
May 2, 2017
When Oklahomans filed their state income taxes in 2016, more than 70 percent of households used the standard deduction, which was $6,300 for individuals and $12,600 for married couples filing jointly. The remaining households itemized their deductions, adding up deductions for mortgage interest, charitable contributions, business expenses, and several other deductions allowed under federal and state tax laws. […]
Oklahoma Policy Institute: Private school tax subsidy blurs the line between charitable gift and money laundering
January 10, 2017
Carl Davis is Research Director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that works on federal, state, and local tax policy issues. Photo by ccPixs.com / CC BY 2.0 Photo by ccPixs.com / CC BY 3.0 When is a charitable contribution not a “donation” at all? If a […]
Oklahoma Policy Institute: The tax shift rears its head
January 10, 2017
Last week the Oklahoma Senate Finance Committee approved SB 977, a bill that would suspend 23 tax credits for the next two years as a way to partially address the state’s massive budget shortfall. While the bill targets numerous credits, a large majority of the impact would come from ending three important tax credits […]
Oklahoma Policy Institute: New bill would devastate a key tax credit for Oklahoma working families
May 13, 2016
“Yesterday, a letter signed by more than 150 Oklahoma clergy was delivered to lawmakers and Governor Fallin, urging them not to slash key tax credits for working families to fix the state’s revenue problems. They were joined by numerous non-profit and foundation leaders who spoke out against cuts to the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child/Child […]
Oklahoma Policy Institute: High-income surcharge would help solve budget emergency
April 15, 2016
“The evidence is now undeniable that Oklahoma is facing a full-fledged emergency. With each passing day, the toll of budget cuts on Oklahoma families, schools, businesses, and communities becomes more alarming. Given the enormity of the budget shortfall, it’s widely understood that the budget can’t be balanced primarily through deeper spending cuts. The income tax […]
Oklahoma Policy Institute: The Cost of Tax Cuts in Oklahoma
January 12, 2016
“Due to these cuts, Oklahoma’s top income tax rate has been slashed by almost a fourth, from 6.65 percent before 2004 to 5 percent beginning in 2016. The annual revenue loss from these cuts has now reached $1.022 billion, according to an analysis prepared for OK Policy by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. […]
Oklahoma Policy Institute: Halt the Tax Cut
March 31, 2015
The cut to the top income tax rate will provide minimal benefit to all but the wealthiest Oklahomans. The average middle-income household will see its taxes lowered $31 a year, or $2.60 per month. Forty percent of households will get no benefit at all. Yet the cut will add some $50 million to the budget […]
Oklahoma Policy Institute: This nonsensical ‘double dipping’ tax break is costing Oklahoma millions
March 12, 2015
“Disallowing just the deduction for state income tax would yield the state $97 million, according to an analysis by the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy. Only one in four households (24 percent) would be affected at all by this tax change. Over half of the $97 million in new revenue – 58 percent – […]
Oklahoma Policy Institute: Low- and middle-income Oklahomans pay highest state and local taxes
January 21, 2015
A new study released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and Oklahoma Policy Institute finds that low and middle-income Oklahomans pay over two times more in taxes as a percentage of their income compared to the state’s wealthiest residents. The study, “Who Pays?”, analyzes tax systems in all 50 states and […]
Oklahoma Policy Institute: 5 things you should know about Oklahoma taxes
April 15, 2014
It’s tax day — the annual event when procrastinators, or those who just like to live on the edge, rush to get their tax returns filed before the midnight deadline. If your return is safely filed, or if you just want another excuse to procrastinate, here are 5 things in 5 charts that everyone should […]
Oklahoma Policy Institute: Tax cut will provide little benefit to most Oklahomans
February 18, 2014
The average Oklahoman would get just $29 from Governor Mary Fallin’s proposed income tax cut, while one-quarter of the total benefit would go to the wealthiest 1 percent of households, according to a new analysis prepared by the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). Read the Full Report
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