OTC releases tax numbers, holiday

The July 2021 distribution of sales tax collections by the Oklahoma Tax Commission primarily represents local tax receipts from May business.

Companies that remit more than $2,500 monthly in sales tax receipts are required to file and pay electronically.

The monies they reported this period represent sales from May 16 to 31 and estimated sales from June 1 to the 15.

The June breakdown is as follows:

The disbursement of $180,270,874 in sales tax collections returned to the cities and towns reflected an increase of $17,948,287 from the $162,322,587 distributed to the cities and towns in June last year. The use tax disbursement to cities and towns was $25,963,052.

In county returns, the counties shared in a $29,204,262 sales tax disbursement and a $5,016,343 use tax disbursement.

The following are the sales tax figures for each community, 2021 is listed first and the same time period for 2020, followed by the totals for 2021:

• Aline, $4,044, $1,803, for an increase of $2,241, for a total of $53,747 in 2021.

• Burlington, $1,125, $588, for an increase of $537, for a total of $7,353 in 2021.

• Byron, $846, $237, for an increase of $609, for a total of $4,242 in 2021.

• Carmen, $4,346, $8,711, for a decrease of $4,365, for a total of $24,856 in 2021.

• Cherokee, $49,576, $51,951, for a decrease of $2,375, for a total of $357,352 for 2021.

• Goltry, $1,039, $1,581, for a decrease of $542, for a total of $48,198 in 2021.

• Helena, $13,500, $10,522, for an increase of $2,978, for a total of $88,180 in 2021.

• Jet, $3,175, $3,008, for an increase of $167, for a total of $21,304 in 2021.

Alfalfa County collections for 2020 were $79,053 and the figure has increased to $82,956 for an increase of $3,903 from the same time period last year. The county has collected $668,404 for all of 2021.

Use Tax

Use tax collections returned and last year’s figures follow:

• Aline, $3,630, $2,517, for an increase of $1,113.

• Carmen, $1,286, $1,413, for a decrease of $127.

• Cherokee, $9,790, $10,711, for a decrease of $921.

• Goltry, $177, $1,093, for a decrease of $916.

• Helena, $1,826, $4,166, for a decrease of $2,340.

• Jet, $836, $1,127, for a decrease of $291.

Alfalfa County as a whole saw an increase of $3,628 from $18,501 in 2020 to $22,129 in 2021.

A use tax is very similar to a sales tax; however, it targets purchases made outside of a given tax jurisdiction. Use taxes are levied on goods or services bought in one state or municipality, then transported into, consumed in, or resold in another municipality or state.

Use taxes aim to preserve sales tax revenues and protect local retailers from competition in jurisdictions with lower sales taxes or no sales taxes.

The sales tax and use tax numbers are released by the 15th of every month on the Oklahoma Tax Commission website at tax.ok.gov. The report can be found under the newsroom tab on the bottom of the page.

Holiday

It is summertime and that means it is almost time for Oklahoma’s annual sales tax holiday. This year, it runs from 12:01 a.m. Friday, August 6, 2021, through midnight on Sunday, August 8, 2021. During this time period, sales of eligible clothing and shoes are exempt from sales tax. All qualified items are exempt from state, city, county and local municipality sales tax.

Retailers are required to participate in the three-day sales tax holiday and may not collect sales and use tax on sales on qualified footwear and clothing items priced less than $100 dollars.

For more information about the holiday and to find a list of exempt items, please visit tax.ok.gov.