Guthrie State Rep. Jason Murphey says the state should avoid at all costs attempts to put a service tax on the information technology services sector.
In a statement issued this week, the Republican legislator said other states have taxed IT and later repealed the tax.
His statement came after Governor Fallin released a statement on Tuesday entitled “Computer Science, Coding Skills in High Demand by Businesses across Our State.
“It’s important to celebrate this fact and I appreciate the governor’s re cognition of the potential of Oklahoma’s IT industry, but even more importantly, we must realize the great harm that the pending services tax on technology is about to create.”
Murphy is chairman of the House Government Modernization Committee and says a similar tax plan failed in Massachusetts and Maryland. He said it became clear the tax would create a burden on businesses using IT services.
“The failed Massachusetts experiment shows that trying to put a services tax on information services is a Pandora’s Box of unanticipated outcomes that cause absolute havoc on many areas of the private sector,” Murphey said. “Because so many industries now use computer-based processes, this new law will be very confusing, and it will be difficult for businesses to know if they will be required to collect the tax or not. Those who mistakenly fail to collect the tax will open themselves up to liability.”