Oregon Tax News

Oregon TaxNews,

Americans for Tax Reform did a calculation of what each state’s top income tax rate would be ifthe Bush 2001 tax cuts expire. The results are ranked from best to worst with nine states being tied ofr the first spot as these states have no income tax. Oregon was noted for being the highest income tax state (including the District of Columbia). The method does not compare other taxes such as sales taxes where Oregon has none and Washington is among the highest. The chart is useful for those businesses and individuals consider moving into or out of a state.

See full chart here: http://www.atr.org/userfiles/Word%20final.pdf

By Oregon Tax News,

On December 8th, U.S. Senator Tom Coburn and Senator John McCain released their Stimulus Checkup Report.  The report lists 100 projects as part of the $700 billion stimulus program targeted as waste.  Four Oregon projects made the list are listed below;

Recovering Crab Pots Lost At Sea ($700,000)
A $700,000 grant will pay for 48 people to help Oregon crabbers recover crab pots they have lost at sea.  The two-year project expects to yield 2,000 lost pots a year. Oregon crabbers reportedly lose an estimated 15,000 crab pots a year. The effort will use 10 boats, planes, and a telephone hotline for people to phone in crab pot sightings.  If all 4,000 pots are recovered as expected, the grantees will spend an average of $175 per crab pot, though John‘s Sporting Goods in nearby Everett, Washington sells new crab pots online for as little as $19.95.  At that price, crabbers could purchase nearly ten times as many crab pots as this program is expected to reclaim.
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By Oregon Tax News,

Holiday shoppers will get an early start this year whether they are ready or not.  Retail giants have embarked on an advertising spending spree in an attempt to lure bargain shoppers to their stores earlier this year, signaling the economy may be on the rebound.

Target, Wal-Mart, Kmart, and Gap all plan to boost advertising spending over last year’s level in an attempt to get this seasons holiday shopping started early.  According to John Swallen, the senior vice president of research at TNS Media Intelligence, “We are seeing increases across a large number of retail advertisers. Clearly they are trying to jump-start their sales efforts.”
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