Watch This: Debunking Myths About Who Pays Taxes

During the last presidential election, much was made of the fact that nearly half of Americans paid no federal income tax in 2010.  But is it true? A new 4 minute illustrated video from The Urban Institute explains who doesn’t… Read more [More...]

Who pays state and federal taxes in Oklahoma — in 2 charts

[Update: A previous version of chart #1 incorrectly said 2011. The chart is based on 2009/2010 American Community Survey data.] 1) 44 percent of Oklahomans owed no federal income tax in 2010. The vast majority were workers, elderly, disabled, or… Read more [More...]

Quick Take: New fiscal year off to mixed start

This week’s announcement of General Revenue (GR) collections for the first month of the new fiscal year (FY 2013) provided mixed news for both overall collections and the performance of particular major taxes. Overall GR in July was $382.7 million.… Read more [More...]

Post-session review: So whatever happened to…

Of the 1,934 bills filed this past legislative session, only a small fraction of those saw any significant action by legislators.  Most bills are never heard by a committee, and almost all of them fall short of a hearing on… Read more [More...]

Guest Blog (Ken Miller, PhD): Tax reform revisited

Ken Miller is the Oklahoma State Treasurer.  This post originally appeared as an article in the May Oklahoma Economic Report and is reprinted with permission.  Oklahoma is doing more than fine with unemployment three percentage points below the national average,… Read more [More...]

STATEMENT: Failure of tax cuts is great outcome for Oklahoma

Oklahoma Policy Institute released the following statement in response to the announcement that there will be no tax cut this session: The failure of every tax cut proposal that was debated this session is a victory for Oklahoma. The Legislature… Read more [More...]

Guest Blog (Steve Ellis): Income tax opponents offer nothing new in the Wall Street Journal

Stephen Ellis, Ph.D., is Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Oklahoma. His research areas include philosophy of economics, decision theory, philosophy of mind and ethics. The Oklahoma income tax ‘wars’ have gone national!  The latest… Read more [More...]

Tax cut proposal Q & A

NOTE: This post has been updated as new information becomes available Yesterday, the Governor and legislative leaders announced agreement on a ‘joint proposal for income tax reduction and tax code simplification’. (Click here for a summary and here for HB… Read more [More...]

Claims for Oklahoma tax cut not OK

This post was written by Nick Johnson, Vice President for State Fiscal Policy with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. This originally appeared on the Center’s Off the Charts blog and is reposted with permission. Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal… Read more [More...]

Politicians make bad fortune-tellers

A key question in the income tax debate has been whether tax cut supporters were taking a “responsible” approach in their proposals. They have worked hard to convince Oklahomans that we can afford tax cuts without disrupting core services. Revenue… Read more [More...]