State Lawmakers Mull Gas Tax, Sales Exemptions To Raise Revenue

With a budget hole close to $900 million state lawmakers have brought up raising taxes to help make up the money. Their newest idea: A raise on the state's gas tax.

It's unclear how much the tax could go up, but it’s already garnering criticism.

“What that does is it really hurts a lot of people that are already being hurt by the tax structure of Oklahoma,” Rep. David Perryman, D-Chickasha, said.

But there may be another option buried in the state's tax code; 150 little known exemptions that even Gov. Mary Fallin has said the state may need to take a look at.

“We exempt a lot of things like car washes, tattoos, pet grooming [and] sports tickets,” Fallin said at a press conference last month.

So News 9 decided to take a look for ourselves. As it turns out, the state exempts all sorts of things. Some, economists agree are good for consumers, like the $4.6 billion exemption on resale taxes or the $2 billion exemption for manufacturing. Both prevent customers from having to pay more in the end.

But then there are others. Nearly $500,000 for pro sports tickets, $1.3 million for horses and $48 million for almost every kind of advertising in the state. Those are just a few.

Some things like railroad spikes, train cars for hauling coal and web search portals were marked as not available because they cross over with other exemptions.

There have been attempts to repeal several exemptions in the past but they were defeated. It’s unclear right now which exemptions would be on the table ahead of this year’s legislative session.