Promote tax compliance through serving taxpayers with transparency and fairness in administration of the tax code and unparalleled customer service.
Since 1931, the Oklahoma Tax Commission (OTC) has held the responsibility of the collection and administration of taxes, licenses and fees that impact Oklahomans. Currently, we collect and distribute over $11 billion to more than over 200 state agencies, funds and programs each year.
Additionally, we distribute dedicated funds to counties and municipalities throughout the state.
We are governed by three Governor-appointed and Oklahoma Senate-confirmed commissioners. The commissioners direct the administration and enforcement of Oklahoma state tax laws and the collection of a majority of all state-levied taxes and fees through its agency. Under the direction of the commissioners, an executive director oversees the general practices of the agency and is assisted by a team of division directors whose staff encompasses the agency.
Our Core Values guide everything we do:
It is because of these principles that we pride ourselves in having a flexible organization, keeping pace with shifts in technology, government structure and the ever-changing lifestyles of our taxpayers. To ensure we have the forward-thinkers necessary to maintain alignment with our Mission and Core Values, we have built a dynamic team of more than 600 dedicated staff committed to meeting the needs of taxpayers.
Mark Wood is the current Chairman of the OTC.
Wood has spent over 37 years working in public accounting at Arthur Andersen, LLP and Ernst & Young LLP (EY). During his career, he has served a number of public and private business enterprises and families in central Oklahoma and Kansas. He is a CPA, a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Oklahoma Society of Certified Public Accountants (OSCPA).
Wood began his career in tax at Arthur Andersen and was ultimately promoted to partner and managed the Oklahoma City tax practice. He joined EY as a tax partner and assumed overall responsibility for the Oklahoma tax practice. He ultimately assumed the role of managing partner for the EY Oklahoma City office where he was responsible for the overall Oklahoma City practice and clients in the market. Throughout his career he has worked federal and state tax matters in multiple industries and assisted clients in a variety of strategic and structural tax matters, including merger and acquisition transactions, reorganizations, controversies, going public and going private transactions.
Wood serves on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the United Way of Central Oklahoma, the Board of Directors of the Petroleum Club of Oklahoma City, the Advisory Board of the University of Oklahoma Michael F. Price School of Accounting and is a founding member of the John Marshall High School Foundation and Academy of Finance. He has taught courses at Oklahoma City University and the University of Oklahoma (OU) over the years.
Wood received a Bachelor of Accountancy in Accounting and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Economics from OU.
Wood and his wife, Gale, have two sons and three grandchildren.
Shelly Paulk is the current Vice Chairwoman of the OTC.
Paulk came to state government after more than 18 years in education, where she served as an elementary and secondary teacher, including nine years as the administrator and principal of a private Christian school.
She joined the Office of Management and Enterprise Services as the Revenue Analyst for the Oklahoma Budget Division where she developed specific expertise in the collection and flow of revenues to agencies through the apportionment, appropriation and budgetary process.
Paulk was promoted to Deputy Budget Director and assisted multiple state finance secretaries, the Oklahoma Director of Budget, Policy and Gaming Compliance, the Oklahoma Secretary of Budget and the Oklahoma CFO, with management of state agency budget processes. She then became the Oklahoma Budget Director and served as a member of the governor’s budget advisory team.
Paulk holds a B.S. in Business Management from Mid-America Christian University and an M.B.A. from Oklahoma Christian University. She has also taught business courses as an adjunct professor for Randall University in Moore, Oklahoma.
Paulk and her husband, Jon, have three children and eight grandchildren.
Charles (Charlie) Prater is the OTC’s current Secretary-Member and previously served as Chairman of the Tax Commission from April 2019 until April 2021.
Prater is a licensed CPA and a member of the OSCPA and the AICPA.
He joined the international public accounting firm of Touché Ross in Tulsa, now known as Deloitte. Prater then became CFO of an Oklahoma City-based multistate insurance company acquired by UICI. Prater served as president and CEO of UICI's multistate insurance companies and managed divisions in Oklahoma and Georgia, as well as senior officer for insurance mergers and acquisitions. Prater and the new investors took the entity public on the NASDAQ followed by the New York Stock Exchange. He then served on UICI’s Board of Directors and as Senior Vice President. The company was later sold to private equity holders.
Prater also served as CFO for Hampton RE, a New York Chase private equity investment holding company and its subsidiary reinsurance company, located in Bermuda. He later served as a partner and CFO of a revenue cycle health care management company, which he subsequently sold to foreign investors. Prater went on to serve as a Senior Officer and CFO for another health care company in Oklahoma City.
He maintained his own consulting practice, engaged in performing arbitrations, rehabilitation of troubled companies and serving as a forensic accountant and expert witness in litigation until he joined the OTC as a commissioner. He received his degree from Oklahoma State University and was a member of Beta Alpha Si Honor Society.
Prater and his wife, Elaine, have three married children and seven grandchildren. They are very active in their church and their homeowner’s association in Edmond, Oklahoma.
For speaking engagements, please contact taxinquiries@tax.ok.gov.
Doug Linehan is the executive director of the OTC.
Linehan came to the OTC with 30 years of global finance and accounting experience. He began his career with Deloitte. Subsequently, he was with ConAgra Foods and held a variety of positions with increasing levels of responsibility, including senior vice president, controller and senior vice president, finance. Linehan also served as the chief accounting officer at Molycop. Prior to joining the OTC, he led the accounting function, and later, the tax operations function at Paycom Software.
Linehan is a CPA and received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Oklahoma State University and is currently a member of the Oklahoma State University Accounting Advisory Board.
Doug and his wife, Madeline, have three children.