REDUCED POVERTY’S IMPACT
The state EITC is a tax cut for working families to lessen impact of poverty and improve the health and well-being of low-wage families.
BOOST LOCAL ECONOMY
EITC households spend a large portion of their refund on basic needs, boosting the local economy.
ENCOURAGES WORK
The state EITC helps people keep working despite low wages, which benefits their family, their community, and the economy.
You can explore this data by Counties, House Districts and Senate Disctricts.
Take Action! Tell legislators to give working families a boost!
Take ActionTAKE ACTION
What You Can Do:
Bills that would restore the EITC are no longer active this legislative session, indicating it is not a priority for legislators, but it should be. Here are 4 actions you can take to encourage legislators to restore the full-worth of the EITC:
WRITE TO LAWMAKERS
For a quick and simple way to write to both of your legislators and legislature leadersip, use our online form:
Write emailSHARE YOUR STORY
Encourage others to take action by sharing your story. Use our form to share what restoring the EITC means to you:
Share storySHARE ON FACEBOOK
Encourage your Facebook friends to take action and share their stories:
Share on FBWhy is refundability crucial to the #OKEITC?
Refundability is critical to the success of the EITC because it allows the credit to still reward work and support families even if they pay little income tax. The state EITC was enacted in Oklahoma in 2000, and has enjoyed strong bipartisan support as a way to boost work and keep working families out of poverty.
SMALLER REFUNDS
In 2016, the state Legislature made the Oklahoma EITC non-refundable, so if the credit is more than what a family owes in income taxes the balance won’t be refunded to them. Two in three households that claim the EITC lost some or all of their credit. The average loss was $121 per family.
SMALLER IMPACT
Across the state, more than 200,000 working families lost some or all of their credit because of this cut. Making the state EITC non-refundable means that it does far less to reduce poverty and encourage work, particularly among workers earning the least.
Take Action! Write to your legislators.
A married couple with 2 children making $24,600 lost $264
A single parent with 2 children making $10 per hour lost $231
A single parent with 1 child making minimum wage ($7.25) lost $169
Read more about the state EITC
For even more research on the state EITC, click here.
Restoring the Earned Income Tax Credit is a must this session
In Oklahoma’s tax code, there are multiple tax breaks for high-income individuals and businesses. But just three tax credits are targeted at low-income Oklahomans, and one of those – the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) – was slashed in 2016 to help balance the books during a severe budget crisis.
The conservative anti-poverty program
The federal EITC was originally proposed by the Nixon administration and expanded under Presidents Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton. President Reagan called it “the best antipoverty, the best pro-family, the best job creation measure to come out of Congress.”
States can adopt or expand EITCs to build a stronger future economy
State EITCs build on the success of the federal credit by keeping people on the job & reducing hardship for working families. This important state support also extends the federal EITC’s well-documented long-term positive effects on children, boosting the nation’s future economic prospects.
Take Action! Tell your legislators to restore the #OKEITC
Take ActionWho We Are
The #OKEITC for Working Families campaign is organized by Oklahoma Policy Institute and Together Oklahoma.