Dear Representative:
Onbehalf of the National Taxpayers Union’s (NTU’s) more than 4,700 members inOklahoma, I urge you to support House Bill 3038 and eliminate the SoonerState’s personal income tax.
Sponsored byRepresentative Leslie Osborn, HB 3038 would immediately cut the top marginalrate from 5.25 percent to 2.25 percent. This and other rates would thendecrease in regularly scheduled steps each fiscal year until 2022, when the taxrate reaches zero. This is a prudent course, allowing the state ample time toprepare for revenue adjustments and alter state budgets to complement the taxchanges.
States with noincome tax have routinely outshined those that take money from workers’paychecks. According to the American Legislative Exchange Council’s Rich States, Poor States: From 1999 to2009 the nine states with no personal income tax experienced an average growthin gross state product of 61.23 percent - the nine states with the highestpersonal income tax rates grew by 44.91 percent.
A robust economyis one of the most important factors in fiscal solvency. Because states withoutincome taxes were outpacing their counterparts in expansion of economicactivity, they also outpaced them in terms of revenue growth. From 1999-2009,states without income taxes saw a 123.66 percent increase in collectionscompared to the national average of 70.23 percent. When combined with ongoingexpenditure restraint, this kind of strong economic and revenue performance isa recipe for consistently stable and balanced budgets. Eliminating the burden ofincome taxes in Oklahoma could go a long way toward securing the state’s fiscalfuture.
Moreover, statescompete with one another for business and jobs. Oklahoma leaders know all toowell the long-term success of the state’s Red River rival to the south, incometax free Texas. The regional competition could become even tougher as Kansasand Missouri are now seriously considering drawing down or eliminating theirincome taxes. Kansas is likely to reduce its corporate income tax to zero.Missouri could take an even more aggressive approach by phasing out corporateand personal income taxes over a period of five years.
Oklahomahas a chance to become a regional and national leader on forward-looking taxand economic policy. We urge you to support this important legislation andpledge our maximum effort to help you eliminate the income tax.
Sincerely,
Brent MeadState Government Affairs Manager