Tulsa leaders are happy Gov. Mary Fallin signed a bill to help Oklahoma collect sales taxes from online retailers.
Tulsa Regional Chamber President and CEO Mike Neal cited an Oklahoma Tax Commission estimate the law should bring $225 million in additional annual revenue to the state.
"Funding that is critical as we work toward addressing the state's very significant budget shortfall," Neal said. "For those of us who were at the state capitol yesterday, we didn't see a lot of progress being made in addressing that shortfall, so, hopefully, this will be something that will certainly be a start in the right direction."
The chamber has included internet sales tax as an issue on its annual legislative agenda for several years, and local officials routinely cite online retailers as contributors to their budget woes. Mayor Dewey Bartlett said Tulsa loses around $20 million each year in sales tax from online purchases.
"That would go a long way toward being able to hire new police officers, new firefighters, open our parks up, hire more people to run the parks," Bartlett said.
Bartlett also said it’s unfair when someone visits a local store but purchases the item they want online later.
Kent Williams with Tulsa Small Business Connection has high hopes for the law.
"Research has shown us by 2022, the impact on GDP could be in the billions of dollars, and thousands of new jobs could be created as this thing unfolds," Williams said.
The new law requires retailers to send Oklahoma customers an annual notice by Feb. 1 telling them the total value of purchases they may owe state taxes for.
