OKPOLICY.ORG
A new fact sheet released today by the Oklahoma Policy Institute shows that the legislature’s tax reform task force proposal would raise taxes for 55 percent of Oklahomans. Low-income seniors and families with children would be especially harmed by the proposal, which suggests paying for further cuts to the top income tax rate by ending numerous tax credits and exemptions relied on by low and moderate income Oklahomans.
The largest tax increase among married couples with two children would be for households making $25,000, according to the analysis. These families would see a tax increase of $647. Two-child families would not receive a tax cut unless their income was at least $117,000. Another group disproportionately affected is low-income seniors, because they would lose the sales tax relief credit and the personal exemption, which is doubled for seniors with incomes below $25,000. Almost all senior couples making less than $50,000 would have their taxes increased.
Among all households, the top 1 percent (those making $357,400 or more) would receive by far the largest benefit, with an average tax break of $2,833. The bottom 60 percent would see an average tax increase of $107.
