A growing share of business owners and executives say taxes are too high in Oklahoma, with the state income tax identified as the area most in need of reform, according to a new survey.

The Fall 2026 Oklahoma Business Leaders Poll, a joint project of The State Chamber, the Oklahoma Business Roundtable, and the State Chamber Research Foundation, surveyed 401 Oklahoma business owners and executives in September.

In 2023, just 30 percent of surveyed business owners who participated in the poll said they paid too much in taxes, but a far higher share holds that view today. In the latest poll, 45 percent of business owners and executives said taxes are too high.

The survey report noted that small businesses “feel it most,” with 55 percent of business owners and executives with under 100 employees saying they pay too much in taxes.

When asked which taxes need the most reform, income tax was cited by the largest share of respondents (36 percent), followed by taxes on business (26 percent) and property taxes (26 percent).

While Oklahoma’s top personal income tax rate has been reduced to 4.5 percent, other states in the region and around the country offer even lower rates. Neighboring Texas has no income tax, while policymakers in neighboring Arkansas have reduced their income-tax rate to 3.7 percent.

States around the country have also reduced taxes. For example, in Louisiana, officials have reduced the personal income-tax rate to 3 percent, and Iowa has a flat rate of 3.8 percent.

In North Carolina, the state has a flat personal income tax rate of 3.99 percent that is scheduled to be cut lower in future years. During this month’s elections, 61 percent of North Carolina voters approved a measure that capped the state income tax at a maximum rate of 3.5 percent.

Oklahoma’s top personal income tax rate is scheduled to fall in future years by a quarter-point whenever tax revenue increases by a set amount, effectively using growth revenue to reduce taxes without requiring spending cuts elsewhere.

Governor-elect Mike Mazzei campaigned on reducing Oklahoma’s personal income tax at a faster pace by lowering spending or offsetting income-tax reductions with changes to other taxes.

Voter-approved changes effectively took one state out of the regional tax competition this month.

Colorado, which borders the Oklahoma panhandle, imposed a flat income-tax rate of 4.4 percent, which is lower than Oklahoma’s current top rate. But voters in that state approved a measure this month that eliminated Colorado’s flat-rate system and replaced it with multiple brackets that include a top rate of 8.4 percent, giving Oklahoma an income-tax advantage over Colorado for the first time since 1987.

The Oklahoma Business Leaders Poll also found that state business officials hold a dim view of the outcomes produced by Oklahoma’s K-12 public school system.

Only 10 percent of respondents said Oklahoma’s high school graduates are prepared for work, compared to 79 percent who said the CareerTech system does a good job preparing students for the workforce.