Measure Repealing Oklahoma Franchise Tax Passes House

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma is one step closer to being a little more business friendly, according to Rep. Leslie Osborn. 

House Bill 1716, by Rep. Osborn, passed by a 79-14 margin in the House of Representatives Tuesday evening. The measure repeals the state’s franchise tax. Currently under a moratorium through June of 2013, the tax was crafted to tax corporations for doing business in Oklahoma. Those entities were levied a tax of $1.25 for every $1,000 of capital invested or used in the state.

“Charging a company just to do its business here is simply unacceptable,” said Osborn, R-Mustang. “This tax is harmful to the bottom line of the state and hampers the ability of future job creation. Who would want to come here and have its company operate when it could go to another state, still run its business and save money in the process? Oklahoma is at a competitive disadvantage with the threat of this tax returning and I’m glad we voted today to begin the process to kill it off once and for all.”

If nothing had been done about the franchise tax this legislative session, the moratorium would have expired June 30, meaning this tax would again be levied against companies on July 1, 2014.

With the passage in the House, the measure heads to the state Senate for further consideration. If passed there and signed by the governor, this measure would go into effect July 1, 2014.