Work in Oklahoma, Live in Texas: Tax Filing Guide

No reciprocity needed

Do Oklahoma and Texas have a tax reciprocity agreement?

No, and none is needed. Reciprocity agreements exist between two states that both tax wages and want to spare cross-border commuters a second return. Texas does not levy a personal income tax, so there is nothing for Oklahoma to yield to. Oklahoma taxes the wages you earn while working there, and Texas taxes none of them.

Because Texas imposes no state income tax on individuals, you do not file a Texas return at all. You do not need a home-state credit form because Texas does not tax the wages a second time. That makes the Oklahoma to Texas commute simpler than most cross-border situations. Your paperwork is the federal return plus one Oklahoma nonresident return.

Filing your return

Which tax return do you file?

Oklahoma requires a nonresident return from anyone whose gross income from Oklahoma sources is $1,000 or more in the year. Use Form 511-NR (Individual Nonresident and Part-Year Resident Income Tax Return). For a nonresident, Oklahoma-source income includes salaries, wages and commissions for work performed in Oklahoma. The return still asks for all of your income: you enter everything in the Federal column and only the Oklahoma-source amounts in the Oklahoma column.

Oklahoma computes the tax as if all your income were earned in Oklahoma, subtracting the standard deduction and personal exemption, and then prorates the tax by the ratio of Oklahoma-source AGI to total AGI. Income from Texas work or investments is not taxed by Oklahoma directly, but it can raise the rate on your Oklahoma wages. For example, with $60,000 of Oklahoma wages and $40,000 of Texas wages, the tax on $92,650 of taxable income is $3,954.50, and 60% of it, about $2,373, is due to Oklahoma. Texas does not require a state income tax return, so nothing else is due to your home state.

Oklahoma brackets

How much Oklahoma tax will you owe in 2026?

Oklahoma restructured its individual income tax brackets under House Bill 2764, approved by the Governor on May 28, 2025. Beginning with tax year 2026, the six brackets become three taxed brackets above a 0% band, and the top marginal rate drops from 4.75% to 4.5%. The percentage-method withholding tables in Packet OW-2 (revised November 2025) apply the same brackets. For single filers and married filing separately, the 2026 taxable-income brackets are:

Married couples filing jointly, surviving spouses and heads of household use thresholds twice the single amounts. Because the 4.5% bracket starts at $7,200 of taxable income, most of a typical wage earner's taxable income falls in it. At $60,000 of wages and no other income, the Oklahoma tax is about $2,155, roughly 3.6% of pay (see the example below).

HB 2764 also provides for later cuts of 0.25 percentage point at a time until the rate reaches zero, but only after state revenue conditions are met and certified. Those future cuts do not change the 2026 rates above.

Employer withholding

What does your Oklahoma employer withhold?

Your Oklahoma employer withholds Oklahoma income tax under the 2026 OW-2 tables. You give your employer Form OK-W-4 (Employee's State Withholding Allowance Certificate). Each withholding allowance is worth the $1,000 personal exemption divided by the number of pay periods (about $19.23 weekly, $83.33 monthly, or $41.67 semimonthly). Because Texas has no income tax, no Texas state tax appears on your paycheck.

Federal payroll taxes apply the same way they would if you lived in Oklahoma. Social Security is 6.2% up to the annual wage base, Medicare is 1.45%, and the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax applies to wages over $200,000 for a single filer. You will see the usual federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare lines on your pay stub. Only the Oklahoma line represents state tax.

If you split your time between Oklahoma work days and remote days in Texas, ask your employer to apply Oklahoma withholding only to the pay for work done in Oklahoma. The OW-2 packet also leaves out of withholding a nonresident's pay for services in Oklahoma of not more than $300 in a calendar quarter; you may still owe tax and need to file if your Oklahoma income reaches $1,000 for the year. Keep a work-location log in case the Oklahoma Tax Commission (OTC) asks for documentation.

Remote work

What if you work remotely from Texas for an Oklahoma employer?

Oklahoma taxes nonresidents on salaries, wages and commissions for work performed in Oklahoma, and its withholding law applies to compensation for services rendered in Oklahoma. When you do the work in Texas, the pay is not Oklahoma-source and Oklahoma does not tax it, even when the paycheck comes from an Oklahoma-based employer.

Oklahoma's sourcing rule looks at where the work is performed. It does not treat your remote days as Oklahoma days just because your employer is located there, which is how a convenience-of-the-employer rule works in the states that have one.

If you work fully remote from Texas, tell your employer your work location. Oklahoma withholding applies to pay for work performed in Oklahoma, and the OK-W-4 has no separate line for remote workers. If Oklahoma tax was withheld from pay for work you did in Texas and you have no Oklahoma filing requirement, file Form 511-NR and mark the Not Required to File box to claim a refund of that withholding. Keep records of where you worked. This is general information, not tax advice.

Worked example: Texas resident earning wages in Oklahoma

Single filer, all income is Oklahoma wages. Standard deduction $6,350 (the 2025 amount, which the 2026 OW-2 tables also reflect), personal exemption $1,000, 2026 brackets. With other income, the tax on total income is prorated: $60,000 of Oklahoma wages plus $40,000 of Texas wages gives $3,954.50 times 60%, about $2,373. Approximate, not tax advice.

Local taxes

Do any city or county income taxes apply?

Neither Oklahoma nor Texas has a local income tax on wages. Oklahoma cities and counties do not levy a wage tax. Texas has none either: the Texas Constitution bars the Legislature from taxing individuals' net incomes, and no Texas city or county levies an income tax. Local services are funded mainly through sales and property taxes.

Your paycheck will show federal payroll taxes and Oklahoma state income tax, but no line for a city, county or school district wage tax. That contrasts with cross-border situations involving Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania or Michigan, where local taxes add another layer for commuters. For the Oklahoma to Texas commute, the only state-level tax you deal with is Oklahoma's.

Filing threshold

When must you file Oklahoma Form 511-NR?

You must file Oklahoma Form 511-NR if your gross income from Oklahoma sources is $1,000 or more for the tax year, whatever your filing status. Your W-2 reports the Oklahoma wages and withholding in the state boxes with an OK state code.

Cross-check that your employer allocated wages correctly. If your W-2 shows Oklahoma wages but you worked entirely from Texas, ask for a corrected W-2c, or use your own records when you file 511-NR to report only the wages actually earned in Oklahoma. Attach W-2s and any 1099 forms with Oklahoma withholding.

Your Oklahoma return is generally due April 15. If you file electronically, the due date is extended to April 20, provided any tax owed is paid electronically. A federal extension automatically extends your Oklahoma filing deadline when no Oklahoma tax is owed. If you owe Oklahoma tax or have no federal extension, request an Oklahoma extension on Form 504-I; at least 90% of the tax must be paid by the original due date to avoid late-payment penalty charges.

Mid-year move

What happens if you move between Texas and Oklahoma during the year?

If you move from Texas to Oklahoma during the year, you become an Oklahoma part-year resident. File Form 511-NR and check the part-year resident box. Report all income received while you were an Oklahoma resident plus any Oklahoma-source income earned while you were still a Texas resident. As on a nonresident return, Oklahoma figures the tax on all your income and then prorates the tax by the share of your income that is taxable to Oklahoma.

If you move from Oklahoma to Texas, you file Form 511-NR for the part of the year you were an Oklahoma resident, plus any Oklahoma-source income earned after the move. Tell your employer about your move and your new work location so withholding matches where you do the work. There is no Texas return either way.

Document your move with a lease or closing statement, a Texas or Oklahoma driver license, voter registration, and utility connection records. The Oklahoma Tax Commission may ask for proof of a residency change during a review, and clear records prevent delays.

Estimated tax

Do you need to make Oklahoma estimated tax payments?

You must make Oklahoma quarterly estimated tax payments if you expect your tax to exceed your withholding by $500 or more and expect your withholding to be less than the smaller of 70% of the current year's tax or the tax on your prior-year return (for a 12-month year). Common triggers are commission or bonus income with too little Oklahoma withholding, a mid-year shift in work location, or Oklahoma-source income beyond wages.

Use Form OW-8-ES to submit estimated payments. Quarterly due dates are April 15, June 15, September 15 and January 15 of the following year. If you underpay, Oklahoma charges underpayment interest at 20% a year for the period of underpayment, figured on Form OW-8-P, but none if the tax on your return is less than $1,000. If Oklahoma tax is properly withheld on all your Oklahoma wages, you generally will not need separate estimated payments as a wage earner.