SB 736 Oklahoma Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Income tax; creating the Health Care Sharing Ministry Tax Parity Act; stating certain deduction and procedures; requiring Oklahoma Tax Commission to create forms and guidelines. Effective date.

SB 736 creates the "Health Care Sharing Ministry Tax Parity Act," allowing Oklahoma residents who are active members of qualifying health care sharing ministries (HCSMs) to deduct their contributions from their state income tax starting in 2026. It directly affects Oklahoma residents who have been active HCSM members for at least one month during the tax year, treating their contributions like health insurance premiums for tax purposes. The bill requires the Oklahoma Tax Commission to develop forms for claiming the deduction, prohibits taxing reimbursements from HCSMs, and mandates annual reporting on the program's impact.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 3, 2025 Last action Feb 10, 2025

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What changed between versions

Introduced → Committee Substitute · 7 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended from its original introduction to a committee substitute version, primarily updating the bill title to reflect income tax rather than revenue and taxation, changing the effective date language, and modifying several administrative and penalty provisions. The core policy of allowing tax deductions for Health Care Sharing Ministry contributions remains unchanged.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on creating tax parity for Health Care Sharing Ministries, with no substantive changes to eligibility criteria or deduction amounts.

TECHNICAL

Bill title was changed from 'relating to revenue and taxation' to 'relating to income tax' to better reflect the specific tax provision.

Page numbering and formatting were updated with new request numbers (1659 instead of 1321) and dates.

TIMELINE

Section 3.B.1 language was slightly reworded from 'tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026' to 'tax year 2026 and subsequent tax years' for clarity.

REQUIREMENT

Section 3.D was modified to specify that the tax exemption applies to tax years 2026 and subsequent years.

Section 3.E was changed to require electronic submission of annual reports to the Legislature instead of just issuing reports.

Section 3.E was modified to change 'total fiscal impact' to 'total revenue impact' in the required annual report.

DEFINITION

Section 3.A.2 definition of 'Qualified health care sharing expenses' was slightly reworded from 'contributions made' to 'amounts paid' for precision.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 10, 2025

Committee

Referred to Appropriations

upper

Feb 10, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reported Do Pass, amended by committee substitute Revenue and Taxation committee; CR filed

upper

Feb 3, 2025

Introduced

First Reading

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors