Opinion: Devon Energy, a brand synonymous with Oklahoma, just announced it will move its headquarters to Houston, Texas.
Why Texas? Because our Legislature has failed to make Oklahoma a No-Income tax state.
Over the decades, we have lost thousands of high-paying jobs to states with no income tax. Cities Service, Kerr-McGee, Conoco-Phillips, Haliburton and CITGO all fled to Texas so the CEO’s and top brass could keep more of their money.
It’s simple math. Like any American, they don’t want to pay more in taxes than they have to.
The time for action is now.
We have a five-alarm fire in Oklahoma that is engulfing and destroying our economy. The question is: will our next Governor extinguish this fire, or feed the flames?
Dousing this inferno must start with a clear path to make Oklahoma a no income tax state. We don’t need a financial expert to tell us that, but we do need a financial expert to come up with a solution.
The current GOP plan will take at least 25 years. By then, Oklahoma will be a pile of ashes. My income tax elimination plan gets us there in just six years, with three steps.
Step one: We eliminate every absurd income tax deduction, exemption, credit, and rebate. That immediately moves our tax rate from 4.5% to 3.0%.
Step two: We remove all the special-interest sales and service tax exemptions. That brings us down another point — from 3% to 2%. With this move, we maintain tax collections to pay for core services.
Step three: We take it to the people. We will need a statewide vote to replace the revenue from the remaining 2%. And we already have the blueprint to make it work.
Tennessee has the perfect model we can duplicate here. We shift the burden to an activity tax on certain services. This way, paying the activity tax is a choice. It’s a far better option than the mandatory tax on our labor, taken from us under the threat of prison time.
The results speak for themselves. Over the last decade, Tennessee has seen 58% more economic growth than Oklahoma!
So this is the question every voter must answer: How many Fortune 500 companies will flee from this fire before our government gets its act together? How long must we wait for the fire engines to get here?
I built this income tax elimination plan from the ground up. I’m a money manager — that’s what I do for a living. And Oklahoma’s next Governor must have a mastery of money and finance. That’s why I’m running.
We cannot force any company to stay here, but we can stop giving them reasons to leave.
About the author: Mike Mazzei, CFP®, MPAS®, is currently a candidate for Oklahoma Governor and the President of Tulsa Wealth Advisors. A Certified Financial Planner professional, and Master Planner Advanced Studies, he created The Financial Freedom Process™ to help individuals leverage their wealth in order to help them achieve their lifetime visions. Mike is a former Oklahoma State Senator (Dist. 25 in Tulsa) & Sec. of Budget. He is the proud husband to Noel and father to 5 great kids. To read more from Mike from his site Mazzei Minutes, click here.
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