Oklahoma
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ITEP Work in Action October 28, 2024 ITEP’s Eli Byerly-Duke on Oklahoma’s Sales Tax Relief Credit
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… -
blog March 20, 2024 Eliminating Income Taxes Would Be an Expensive Giveaway
Governors and legislative leaders in a dozen states have made calls to fully eliminate their taxes on personal or corporate income, after many states already deeply slashed them over the past few years. The public deserves to know the true impact of these plans, which would inevitably result in an outsized windfall to states’ richest taxpayers, more power in the hands of wealthy households and corporations, extreme cuts to basic public services, and more deeply inequitable state tax codes.
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ITEP Work in Action February 12, 2024 Oklahoma Policy Institute: Economic Projections for Asylum Seekers and New Immigrants in Oklahoma
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.
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January 9, 2024 Oklahoma: Who Pays? 7th Edition
Oklahoma Download PDF All figures and charts show 2024 tax law in Oklahoma, presented at 2023 income levels. Senior taxpayers are excluded for reasons detailed in the methodology. Our analysis… -
ITEP Work in Action May 16, 2023 Oklahoma Policy Institute: Flat Tax, Tax Triggers Would Make Oklahoma’s Tax System Less Fair, Less Adequate, and less stable
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.… -
ITEP Work in Action April 6, 2023 Oklahoma Policy Institute: Tax Proposals This Session Fail to Deliver Inflation Relief, Jeopardize State’s Long-term Fiscal Health
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,… -
ITEP Work in Action February 13, 2023 Oklahoma Policy Institute: The Needs of Everyday Oklahomans Outweigh Tax Cuts that Benefit the Wealthy
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… -
ITEP Work in Action February 14, 2022 Oklahoma Policy Institute: Strengthening the Grocery Tax Credit Would Provide Fiscally Smart Tax Relief to Working Oklahomans
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… -
ITEP Work in Action October 27, 2021 Oklahoma Policy Institute: A Budget and Tax Roadmap for Oklahoma
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… -
ITEP Work in Action October 24, 2018 The Journal Record: Prosperity Policy: An Upside-down Tax System
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.
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ITEP Work in Action October 23, 2018 Enid News & Eagle: A Low Tax State for Only Some Oklahomans
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.
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ITEP Work in Action October 21, 2018 Tulsa World: Political Notebook: Report Says Oklahoma’s State and Local Taxes Among the Most Regressive in the Nation
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.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Oklahoma Policy Institute: New Analysis: Low-income Taxpayers in Oklahoma Pay More than Twice the Tax Rate Paid by the Richest Oklahomans
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.
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blog October 17, 2018 Low-Tax States Are Often High-Tax for the Poor
ITEP analysis reveals that many states traditionally considered to be “low-tax states” are actually high-tax for their poorest residents. The “low tax” label is typically assigned to states that either lack a personal income tax or that collect a comparatively low amount of tax revenue overall. But a focus on these measures can cause lawmakers to overlook the fact that state tax systems impact different taxpayers in very different ways, and that low-income taxpayers often do not experience these states as being even remotely “low tax.”
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report October 17, 2018 Low Tax for Whom? Oklahoma is a “Low Tax State” Overall, But Not for Families Living in Poverty
Oklahoma’s tax system has vastly different impacts on taxpayers at different income levels. For instance, the lowest-income 20 percent of Oklahomans contribute 13.2 percent of their income in state and local taxes — considerably more than any other income group in the state. For low-income families, Oklahoma is far from being a low tax state; in fact, it is the fifth highest-tax state in the country for low-income families.
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October 17, 2018 Oklahoma: Who Pays? 6th Edition
According to ITEP’s Tax Inequality Index, which measures the impact of each state’s tax system on income inequality, Oklahoma has the 9th most unfair state and local tax system in the country. Incomes are more unequal in Oklahoma after state and local taxes are collected than before.
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blog October 2, 2018 Twelve States Offer Profitable Tax Shelter to Private School Voucher Donors; IRS Proposal Could Fix This
A proposed IRS regulation would eliminate a tax shelter for private school donors in twelve states by making a commonsense improvement to the federal tax deduction for charitable gifts. For years, some affluent taxpayers who donate to private K-12 school voucher programs have managed to turn a profit by claiming state tax credits and federal tax deductions that, taken together, are worth more than the amount donated. This practice could soon come to an end under the IRS’s broader goal of ending misuse of the charitable deduction by people seeking to dodge the federal SALT deduction cap.
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September 26, 2018 Tax Cuts 2.0 – Oklahoma
The $2 trillion 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) includes several provisions set to expire at the end of 2025. Now, GOP leaders have introduced a bill informally called… -
blog June 26, 2018 Gas Taxes Rise in Seven States, Including an Historic Increase in Oklahoma
A rare sight is coming to Oklahoma. The last time the Sooner State raised its gas tax rate, the Berlin Wall was still standing, and Congress was debating whether to ban smoking on flights shorter than two hours. Fast forward 31 years, and Oklahoma is finally at it again. On Sunday, the state’s gas tax rate will rise by 3 cents and its diesel tax rate by 6 cents. Both taxes will now stand at 19 cents per gallon—still among the lowest in the country. But Oklahoma isn’t the only state where gas taxes will soon rise.
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ITEP Work in Action June 13, 2018 Oklahoma Policy Institute: On Immigration Rhetoric, Consider the Facts
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… -
ITEP Work in Action June 8, 2018 Oklahoma Policy Institute: To Improve Public Safety and Insurance rates, Allow Undocumented Oklahomans to Drive Legally
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… -
blog May 22, 2018 Most States Have Raised Gas Taxes in Recent Years
An updated version of this blog was published in April 2019.
State tax policy can be a contentious topic, but in recent years there has been a remarkable level of agreement on one tax in particular: the gasoline tax. Increasingly, state lawmakers are deciding that outdated gas taxes need to be raised and reformed to fund infrastructure projects that are vital to their economies.
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ITEP Work in Action April 9, 2018 Vox: How Tax Cuts for the Rich Led to the Oklahoma Teachers Strike
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.
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December 16, 2017 How the Final GOP-Trump Tax Bill Would Affect Oklahoma Residents’ Federal Taxes
The final tax bill that Republicans in Congress are poised to approve would provide most of its benefits to high-income households and foreign investors while raising taxes on many low-… -
blog December 14, 2017 Private Schools Donors Likely to Win Big from Expanded Loophole in Tax Bill
For years, private schools around the country have been making an unusual pitch to prospective donors: give us your money, and you’ll get so many state and federal tax breaks in return that you may end up turning a profit. Under tax legislation being considered in Congress right now, that pitch is about to become even more persuasive.