OKLAHOMA CITY (OBV) – Gov. Kevin Stitt is celebrating the end of Oklahoma’s grocery tax.
Stitt posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, about the departure of the grocery tax.
“It’s a great day to be an Oklahoman. Starting today, we say goodbye to the state’s 4.5% tax on groceries,” Stitt said. “Every Oklahoman will keep more money in their pocket— and feel relief on their grocery bill. Happy shopping, Oklahoma!”
Stitt gathered with legislative leaders at the State Capitol in February to sign House Bill 1955 into law.
“It’s a kind of a team effort to get this across the finish line. This has been in the making for four years now, and I’m proud of the bipartisan support that made this possible,” Stitt said. “Bipartisan support doesn’t happen every single day, as you might imagine, but every single Republican except for one voted for this bill. And every single Democrat except for one person voted for this bill in the Senate as well.”
HB 1955 was written by House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, and Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, and introduced during the 2023 legislative session.
Oklahoma’s state sales-tax rate was 4.5 percent and placed on grocery and other retail purchases. The bill eliminates the tax on all foods that are not prepared fresh in stores.
“If you have to go prepare it at home, then you’ll get sales tax relief on the state portion,” Treat said during the February signing ceremony.
Stitt said he has been speaking about eliminating the grocery tax since 2019.
“To us and leadership, the grocery tax was one of the most regressive taxes that we had. It affected people in the lower income bracket much more than people that made a lot of money, so this was really bipartisan support,” Stitt said. “I think a lot of us were all on the same boat because we have experienced high inflation, which means prices were higher and things were costing more at the grocery store for every single Oklahoma family.”
Oklahoma was one of 13 states that still taxed groceries and one of five that taxed it at the maximum rate on sales tax.
“It’s a tax cut that will impact more Oklahomans than any other tax cut we can potentially address,” Treat said.
McCall also said that the tax cut would benefit all Oklahomans.
“Regardless of political party, that’s what we’re here to see,” McCall said. “As the governor mentioned, this is a really big tax to eliminate. I’m thankful that our economy is in the position that it is – being predicted to be the fifth best performing economy this year – we can do these things and help people, and we know that revenue is going to come right back to the state because we are providing inflation relief to the people.”
The grocery tax cut was a bipartisan effort. McCall thanked Stitt and Treat as well as Senate Democratic Leader Kay Floyd, D-Oklahoma City, and House Democratic Leader Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City.
