Sales tax exemption approved for widows of disabled vets

Sen. Don Barrington

Sen. Barrington explains bills to extend sales tax exemption to widows of disabled vets.

The Senate Veterans and Military Affairs Committee approved legislation Wednesday to extend a portion of the sales tax exemption provided to 100% disabled veterans to their surviving spouses.

“If you have veterans in your community, you know the impact the passing of a loved one has on a military spouse. Not only are they faced with the loss, but they have to deal with the financial implications as well,” said Barrington, R-Lawton. “Military pension payments to surviving spouses of veterans are significantly less than those provided prior to death. This can put a tremendous financial burden on the widow. This bill would help ease that burden and serve as our continuing pledge of gratitude to our military families.”

Senate Bill 46 would exempt the surviving spouses of qualified veterans who have not remarried from sales tax on up to $6,000 in sales per year. According to the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs, there are approximately 2,533 surviving spouses who would qualify for the proposed exemption. The fiscal impact to the state through decreased sales tax collections is estimated to be just over $405,000 for FY
’12 and nearly $706,000 for FY ’13.

SB 46 will next be considered by the Senate Finance Committee.

Contact info

Sen. Barrington: (405) 521-5602