New national study shows Oklahoma’s tax system worsens inequality, among the nation’s most unfair

Oklahoma’s tax system is upside-down, with everyday Oklahomans paying a far greater share of their income in taxes than wealthy residents. Proposals to eliminate the state’s income tax would widen this disparity, according to the latest edition of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy’s Who Pays?, the only distributional analysis of tax systems in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. [More...]

Everyday Oklahomans will be hurt by sweeping revenue cuts

NOTE: On Sept. 11, 2023, Gov. Stitt called for a special session in October 2023 to address tax reforms. One of the items included in the governor’s request was a “path to zero income tax.”  – – – Oklahoma should… Read more [More...]

Flat tax, tax triggers would make Oklahoma’s tax system less fair, less adequate, and less stable

• Current Tax Cut Proposals Don’t Help Most Oklahomans [Printable PDF] 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… Read more [More...]

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 focusing on reducing the personal income… Read more [More...]

Legislators have an opportunity to make a down payment on the state’s future

Oklahoma is in a unique position this year to make a downpayment on the future of our state. Premature tax cuts will set the state up to fail; investments will allow us to thrive.  [More...]

Cutting taxes this year would be short-sighted and harmful

This legislative session, the Oklahoma legislature is set to consider several proposals that would significantly cut state revenue. Rather than cutting taxes, legislators must consider the state’s long-term fiscal health and its structural deficit by maintaining revenue streams this year and for years to come. [More...]

The fiscally responsible way to reduce taxes on groceries

Lawmakers should consider significantly expanding the Sales Tax Relief Credit that would provide targeted tax relief to Oklahomans who need it, cost less revenue, and give lawmakers more flexibility to raise revenue in the future.  [More...]

We have better options than a costly and poorly-targeted income tax cut

Lawmakers should set aside both of these bills and have a broader discussion about whether it's more important to broadly cut taxes than to provide public services, invest in our state’s future, save for the next economic downturn, or provide better-targeted tax reduction. [More...]

Want to reduce Oklahoma’s public services, hurt local business, and shrink our economy? Eliminate the corporate income tax!

Oklahoma’s corporate income tax is good public policy. Forty-four states have corporate income taxes like Oklahoma’s, and all but two of the remaining states tax business revenues. [More...]

Vape Taxes Aren’t the Answer for Medicaid Expansion

While there are arguments to pass a vape tax as a public health measure, it would likely be an insufficient and unstable way to fund a public program as crucial to our health as Medicaid. [More...]