Tax cuts put Oklahoma on a better path

The How Money Walks website shows that Oklahoma lost $1.79 billion in adjusted annual gross income from 1992 to 2018 with many earners fleeing to states that have no income tax. This year, lawmakers took an important step to reduce or reverse that outflow by cutting the state penalty on work—Oklahoma’s income tax.

Thanks to the outcome of this year’s session, Oklahoma’s top income tax rate is poised to fall from 5 percent to 4.75 percent. That will still be far higher than the zero-percent rate in nine states that don’t tax wages at all, but it is also much better than the rates in most other states. Only a handful of states that impose an income tax will have a lower rate than Oklahoma.

In our region, Oklahoma will trail only Texas, which has no income tax, and Colorado, which has a 4.63 percent rate.

The ideal situation would involve full elimination of Oklahoma’s income tax, but cutting the rate is a step in the right direction.

Investment goes where it is wanted. The presence of an income tax is a strong deterrent to job creators, and the higher the rate the greater the deterrent. That’s why the nine states that impose no income tax on wages experienced a net increase in income from 1992 to 2018, according to How Money Walks.

BOARD OF EQUALIZATION CERTIFIES STATE OF OKLAHOMA ON TRACK TO SAVE ESTIMATED $884 MILLION IN FY2022

OKLAHOMA CITY (June 21, 2021)— The Board of Equalization, chaired by Governor Kevin Stitt, voted today to certify revenue and expenditures for the Fiscal Year 2022 budget that includes an estimated $884 million in unspent/unencumbered funds.

Specifically, the Board of Equalization certified $9,064,748,251 in authorized FY22 expenditures and an estimated $9,948,810,340 available in certified and authorized funds plus cash.

The FY22 appropriations increased 23% from FY21 actual expenditures, which is due in large part to the improving economic conditions in the state.

GOVERNOR STITT, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE SECURE HISTORIC ELECTRIC VEHICLE MANUFACTURING INVESTMENT FOR OKLAHOMA

FORT WORTH, Texas (June 17, 2021) – Governor Kevin Stitt and the Oklahoma Department of Commerce secured a historic electric vehicle manufacturing investment today as Canoo announced a commitment to create more than 2,000 jobs and build its first mega microfactory on a 400-acre site at the MidAmerica Industrial Park located near Tulsa, Okla.

Canoo Chairman and CEO Tony Aquila invited Governor Stitt and Secretary of Commerce and Workforce Development Scott Mueller to the company’s inaugural investor relations day at Texas Motor Speedway to make the announcement.

“Oklahoma has always been a pioneer in the energy industry, and this partnership with Canoo shows that our state is an innovation leader in electric vehicle technology,” Governor Stitt said. “We are thrilled to partner with Canoo and Chairman and CEO Tony Aquila to provide high-paying jobs for Oklahomans and position America as the global leader for vehicle manufacturing for decades to come.”

Aquila praised the governor for his focus on innovation to diversify the state’s economy and Oklahoma’s business-friendly policies.