The youth jobless numbers are staggering, and it is wrecking housing, consumer spending and marriage rates
By Oregon Tax News,
This year, the nation hit a record high unemployment rate more than 17% of 20 to 24-year-olds. The Labor Department reports that even young adults with college degrees face a 9.3% jobless rate. The figure doubles for older graduates. In fact, the employment-to-population ratio for those ages 16 to 24 reached an all time low of 42.6 percent.
As if skyrocketing unemployment rates are not enough, the Pew Research Center indicates that a large number of employed workers in their 20s, more than any other age group, lost hours or were cut down to part-time status. The research center expects these low wages to depress future earnings because most workers see their incomes increase slowly and steadily over the course of their careers, as opposed to sharp increases. Read more…
By Oregon Tax News,
How Would the Expiration of the Bush Tax Cuts Affect Oregonians?
The Bush tax cuts, set to expire at the end of the year, have many Americans worried about how it will affect their taxes. According to the Wall Street Journal, “If returning lawmakers don’t pass legislation by December 31, the expiration date of the cuts, tax rates would rise not only on income, but also on estates, capital gains and dividends. Important corporate tax credits and relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax also are up for renewal.”
Over a dozen states, including Oregon, intertwine their state tax codes with federal law so the expiration of the Bush tax cuts could affect state revenue. Read more…
$107M flap caused by one state’s highest paid
By Oregon Tax News,
State radio network is 22% over budget
Plans to build a statewide emergency radio network are running late and $107 million over budget, according to internal state audits and reports. The documents indicate that mismanagement, missed deadlines and hidden costs have pushed up the price tag to $592 million well beyond the $485 million that state officials were citing only a few months ago, The Oregonian reported Wednesday.
Director in charge of project was one of state’s highest paid employees received a 23% raise in 2007 Read more…
Oregon, Washington and Virginia Eye Liquor Reform
By Oregon Tax News,
In November, Washington voters will have the opportunity to vote on two initiatives regarding the privatization of liquor stores and revising laws concerning regulation, taxation and government revenues from the distribution and sale of spirits. If passed, Initiatives 1100 and 1105 will close state liquor stores and authorize private parties to sell and distribute liquor. Although the initiatives will maintain the liquor excise tax, liquor profits will go to private retailers. In addition, Initiative 1100 will eliminate beer and wine price controls and bans against volume discounts. Beer and wine retailers will also become eligible to add a liquor license and will have the opportunity to buy liquor directly from manufacturers. Read more…
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…
