Oregon Tax News

 Tax increases on oil companies, soda pop, income and parcels  failedin June.

Oil tax loses in Congress
At the federal level, Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent Senator from Vermont, led the unsuccessful Congressional effort to pass legislation to repeal oil tax breaks.  Senator Sanders argued that big oil companies make billions in profits and do not deserve the tax breaks at a time when the nation faces a record-breaking $13 trillion in national debt and an unsustainable federal deficit.   The successful opponents to the legislation argued that removing the breaks for oil and gas drilling would hurt small producers as well as big oil companies. Read more…

Oregon Provides Compensation for Lost Wages
By Oregon tax News,

Oregon is one of a few states that dedicates funds, paid by Oregon employers, to cover unpaid wages when a company fails and does not have money for payroll. Last year, the average payout was about $1,048 per worker. The fund pays amounts equal to unpaid wages up to a maximum of $4,000. Several incidents in the mid-1980s, when employees of distressed companies learned that banks were ahead of them in collecting debts, led to legislation that established a fund to protect workers. Since its inception, Oregon’s Wage Security Fund has paid more than $16 million in benefits to more than 16,000 workers. Read more…

The IRS Takes the Thrill Out of Gambling
By Oregon Tax News,

Thanks to the IRS, successful gamblers may become losers. Those gamblers who win $600 from racetracks and state lotteries, $1,200 or more from slots or bingo, $1,500 from keno, or $5,000 from poker will receive a Form W-2G from the IRS to report their winnings. Federal tax law acknowledges wins as income but only acknowledges losses in relation to the wins in the same year. For example, if a person wins $10,000 this year and loses $9,000 next year, his two-year total of taxable gambling income is going to be $10,000, not $1,000. Individuals who win $10,000 at poker in June, lose $10,000 in July could wind up significantly boosting their taxes. Read more…

Gun Industry Faces Decreased Growth
By Oregon Tax News

As industry revenue levels recede this year, potential for modest growth in gun and ammunition sales through 2015 may still exist. The National Rifle Association (NRA) held its annual meeting in May in Charlotte, North Carolina.  The general theme outlined the decline in gun sales despite the recent trend of ‘friendliness’ toward gun owners.
 
Gun and ammunition sales grew 8.9 percent in 2009 to $10.4 billion, reports research firm IBISWorld. Although, a good portion of that growth came from huge military ammunition buys to supply troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, many NRA activists argue that the recent surge in gun and ammunition sales reflect consumer fear that the Obama administration would restrict sales.  This year, the anxiety over gun control is easing, and industry will experience a 5.7 percent revenue decline according to IBISWorld, a national research firm.
Read more…

By Oregon Tax News,

This week Canon Beach City Hall will be voting on a 1% lodging tax. This tax hike on tourists is designed to attract new tourists. The logic behind raising taxes on people as a way to attract them seems contradictory.

Here is an important question to ask. Why is there a tourism tax problem in Canon Beach? Oregon passed a tourist tax in 2003 (Hb 2267) and then expanded it in 2005 (Hb 2197). The 2005 expansion made headlines because it covered yurts and tents. Read more…

FCC Proposes Internet Tax
By Oregon Tax News,

On tax day before the Senate Commerce Committee, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proposed the National Broadband Plan that would expand the Universal Service Fund (USF) tax on landline and cell phones to include broadband internet.  The FCC estimates the National Broadband Plan will cost $350 billion to develop, but that the plan will pay for itself.  The goal is to tax all types of telecom service, including Internet service, and use this pool of money to subsidize the cost of broadband.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski testified, “It proposes a once-in-a-generation transformation of the Universal Service Fund from yesterday’s technology to tomorrow’s.” Read more…

Several reports show continual problems with Oregon and Federal stimulus spending
By Oregon Tax News,

Oregon State officials boast more that the 2009 Legislature’s trumpeted economic stimulus package created or retained 7,500, a feat just shy of the 8,000-plus jobs reported for Oregon under the far bigger federal stimulus program. Yet, Oregon reports spending about $93 million so far compared with $1.3 billion.  However, looks can be deceiving.  Harry Esteve, of The Oregonian, reported that the average Oregon jobs created by the state stimulus lasted about two weeks and did little or nothing to dent the state’s bleak employment outlook. Unemployment was at 11.9 percent when the stimulus money started flowing in and still remains stuck at 11.5 percent.  In addition, the state counted anyone working on a stimulus-related project as a job, regardless of whether the worker was already employed and in no danger of being laid off. Read more…

Oregon #9 in Foreclosures but #37 in Home Insurance Costs
By Oregon Tax News,

Oregon ranked as one of the top 10 states with the highest foreclosure rate in the nation according to a recent survey.  Earlier this year, RealtyTrac, the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, released its January 2010 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report listing 315,716 default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions on U.S. properties during the month of January alone.  Despite the daunting number, this is actually a decrease of nearly 10 percent from December 2009, but 15 percent above the level reported in January 2009. The report also shows one in every 409 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing in January. Read more…

States Consider Holding Tax Returns to Save Money
By Oregon Tax News

USA Today reported that California, Hawaii, Alabama, North Carolina, Kansas, Idaho and New York are considering delaying issuing refunds because the states did not have the cash on hand to cover the costs.  The delays come as states continue to face deep budget holes.  While some economists say the say the nation as a whole is recovering, a recent report conducted by the National Governors Association said state fiscal conditions continue to worsen, and that state revenues will likely lag one to three years behind a national recovery from recession.

California delayed tax refunds and issued billions of dollars in IOUs to vendors and others who the state owed money because of its massive budget shortfall that exceeded $20 billion last year. Read more…

 By Oregon Tax News,

This month President Obama released a budget plan that emphasizes new spending freezes and fiscal accountability but comes with an extraordinary price tag.   Overall, the budget reveals federal spending will grow to $3.72 trillion dollars in the 2010 fiscal year and will increase to $3.83 trillion in 2011.  The Obama Administration plans to add $25 billion in new state spending for Medicaid.  Also in the works is another jobs stimulus spending, but this time targeting low-income family programs such as health research, heating, and education.  An extension of entitlements to future generations can be seen in a small budget shift that puts the Pell Grant program, used to aid college students, into the mandatory spending column.  This transition will cost $307 billion over 10 years, which makes it an entitlement similar to social security.

Here is a sample of 19 tax changes and increased complaince costs in the president’s budget. Read more…