Budget & Tax

Arkansas cuts income tax rates (again)

June 20, 2024

Curtis Shelton

Nearly a year ago I warned that if Oklahoma doesn’t get moving on income tax cuts it would be left behind. The year 2024 arrived with 14 states having a cut to their personal income tax rate take effect.

Three of these states—North Carolina, Mississippi, and Arkansas—previously had a higher rate than Oklahoma and have now moved to a lower rate. Missouri is right behind, having gone from 4.95 percent to 4.8 percent.

While Arkansas cut its rate from 4.9 to 4.4 percent, that still wasn’t good enough for Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Yesterday she signed legislation cutting the rate to 3.9 percent, retroactively, beginning Jan. 1, 2024.

Oklahoma, meanwhile, chose massive government spending hikes in 2024 (“We overspent again,” Gov. Kevin Stitt said) instead of income-tax reduction.

The question used to be what can Oklahoma do to stay in front? Now the question is: What do we need to do to keep up?