Tag: tax incentives

Over a Barrel: How we ended up on the hook to oil and gas producers to the tune of $294 million

NOTE: This week, Oklahomans learned the state was on the hook to pay oil and gas producers $294 million over the next three years in deferred tax rebates for horizontal and deep well drilling in 2010 and 2011, an amount… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma ranked 6th in the nation for tax break safeguards, but serious gaps remain

States are spending billions of dollars per year on corporate tax credits, cash grants and other economic development subsidies that often require little if any job creation and lack wage and benefit standards covering workers at subsidized companies. These are… Read more [More...]

Keeping tabs on tax breaks

This post originally appeared on Oklahoma Watch as part of their Oklahoma Voices series. The legislative task force that has been studying tax breaks will vote on final recommendations at its November 30 meeting. Also appearing today on our blog… Read more [More...]

Guest Blog (Scott Meacham): Rural and Small Business Credits are bad tax policy run amok

Scott Meacham is the former State Treasurer and former director of the Oklahoma Office of State Finance. He currently chairs the Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Development and Taxation Committee. The Oklahoma legislature has struggled for decades with the best… Read more [More...]

Can we stop the runaway train of tax expenditures?

In an earlier post, we discussed tax breaks that had been extended or newly created in the most recent legislative session. The governor promised to eliminate tax credits that “do not create jobs,” but there were no successful bills to… Read more [More...]

The Weekly Wonk – April 29, 2011

What’s up this week at Oklahoma Policy Institute? The Weekly Wonk is dedicated to this week’s events, publications, and blog posts. This week at OK Policy we blogged about an unlikely request to area governors from Kansas City business executives… Read more [More...]

How the tax incentives war puts states in a terrible bargaining position

Last week, 17 of the top business executives from the Kansas City area made an unexpected request to the governors of Kansas and Missouri – they asked to end tax incentives for their businesses. The letter describes competing incentives as… Read more [More...]

Upside Down: New report shows most asset building spending helping the wealthy

It is widely accepted that ownership of assets – a home, savings accounts, stocks and investments, a business – is a cornerstone of family financial security. Assets provide a cushion against temporary setbacks and allow for an investment in greater… Read more [More...]

Sunk: Mercury Marine fiasco casts light on costs of state subsidy wars

Over the past several months, we have blogged several times on state tax incentives, in particular on the need to strengthen transparency and evaluation of tax credit programs (see our posts here,  here, here and here). The issue  seems to… Read more [More...]

Taking on tax incentives

In a recent post on our blog, Paul Shinn looked at state tax incentives and made the case for holding them to the same standards of accountability as direct government spending programs.  In the new blog at Tax.com, David Brunori,… Read more [More...]