The Oklahoma House approved a budget bill Tuesday freezing the state’s standard income tax deduction at current federal levels.
House Bill 2348 means Oklahoma’s standard deductions would be $6,350 for single filers, $12,700 for joint filers or $9,350 for heads of household for this tax year forward. Otherwise, they would increase with the federal standard deduction.
"We can have this be higher than the federal deduction. We can have it be lower than the federal deduction," said Rep. Lewis Moore. "It is what is required revenue-wise to provide for the people of Oklahoma."
Supporters said the bill is not a revenue generating measure and needs only simple majority approval. Reps. Randy McDaniel and Scott Inman had competing views on the matter.
"This bill is not a revenue raising bill inasmuch as it is a revenue-saving bill that we don't know what the federal policy will be," McDaniel said.
"Whose revenue? If I've heard it once, I've heard it a thousand times: This revenue isn't our revenue, it's the people's money," Inman said. "How many times have we heard that? But now, apparently, when it's a standard deduction and comes out of the back pockets of middle-class and poor families, well, that revenue isn't theirs. It's yours."
Rep. David Perryman was among the House Democrats who dispute the idea HB2348 is intended to give the state more fiscal certainty by making the standard deduction cost consistent.
"So that we can sustain tax cuts for corporations, oil and gas entities, so that we can sustain tax cuts for those individuals who make millions of dollars a year, we're talking about shifting the tax burden from the wealthy to the poor," Perryman said.
HB 2348 passed the House 51–44. It’s estimated to boost state revenues next year by $4.4 million.
