House passes three income tax cut bills by Speaker McCall

The State Senate's GOP leadership is adamantly opposed to cutting the income tax this year, but House Speaker McCall is just as determined to put the ball in their court, with the House sending the following income tax cut bills to the Senate this week:

Speaker McCall Tax Bills Pass House

OKLAHOMA CITY (March 13th) – Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, this week gained House passage of multiple bills he authored regarding Oklahoma's tax structure and policy. The bills were in addition to tax policy legislation passed by the House earlier this session.

"I made a promise to Oklahomans when the grocery tax passed earlier this session that the House was not done delivering tax relief to our citizens," McCall said. "This week, the House kept that promise. State savings are at record levels, our economic outlook as a state continues to rise and now is the time to allow Oklahomans to keep more of their hard-earned money. The House believes that principle, and that is reflected by the overwhelming number of votes these bills received."

The legislation passed this week pertained to both corporate and personal income tax cuts.  

HB 2948 phases out the corporate income tax over five years by reducing the amount of tax due each year by 20% increments beginning tax year 2024. By tax year 2028, 100% of corporate tax liability will be exempt. Corporations can choose to continue paying the tax if the elect to. The bill passed by a vote of 78-19.

HB 2949 establishes a path to completely eliminate the state income tax. Beginning tax year 2025, every year that the cumulative revenue growth is equal to or greater than $400 million revenue triggers to allow the personal income tax rate to be cut by .25 percent. When the tax rate has been reduced to 3 percent, the rate may be reduced further by .30 percent each year until the rate is zero and the personal income tax is completely phased out after 10 years. The bill passed by a vote of 75-19.

HB 2950 replaces the bracket system for personal income tax with a 4.75 percent flat tax beginning tax year 2025. The first $13,350 of income for single filers and $27,100 for joint filers, heads of households and qualifying widowers would not be taxed. The measure also establishes a path to completely eliminate the state income tax. Beginning tax year 2025, every year that the cumulative revenue growth is equal to or greater than $400 million revenue triggers to allow the personal income tax rate to be cut by .25 percent. When the tax rate has been reduced to 3 percent, the rate may be reduced further by .30 percent each year until the rate is zero and the personal income tax is completely phased out after 10 years. The bill passed by a vote of 74-21.

The bills will now be sent to the Senate for consideration.