Up to the Minute..

Commission Order
October 6, 2005

Commission Releases Order Granting Relief to Certain Taxpayers Affected by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita

Click here to download Commission Order (Order Number 2005-10-06-02)

In addition, the Commission sent out information to Oklahoma businesses regarding sales taxability of purchases made by Hurricane Katrina evacuees pursuant to FEMA or Red Cross debit cards.

The informational card reads:
"This notice is to advise vendors and other interested parties that purchases of tangible personal property and services by Hurricane Katrina evacuees pursuant to a FEMA or Red Cross debit card are exempt from sales tax as sales to the federal government or its instrumentalities.

Both the FEMA debit cards and the Red Cross client assistance debit cards are issued by J.P. Morgan Chase and are MasterCard branded. The FEMA debit cards are embossed with "FEMA ASSISTANCE" and will carry the same bank identification number, 511393. The Red Cross debit cards are embossed with "RED CROSS CLIENT" and bear the symbol of the Red Cross and the designation "American Red Cross". The Red Cross client assistance debit cards will all carry the same bank identification number, 5145.

A vendor, in order to properly document the exempt nature of the purchases, must obtain either a copy of the debit card or the purchaser's name and the number referenced on the face of the FEMA or Red Cross debit card used to make the purchase."