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by Dan Lucas
Marcia Atkinson reported in the Salem-Keizer Sentinel [2] this week that Bill Dalton [3], Democratic candidate for state representative in House District 19 (Salem), told a neighborhood association that Oregon’s tax structure is outdated – that revenues are now “93% from individuals and 7% from business and corporations.”
Mr. Dalton isn’t even close on his numbers. It’s the same type of grossly inaccurate and false perception that Democrats successfully fostered [4] during the Measure 66 and Measure 67 tax hikes back in 2010.
The truth is businesses already pay their fair share of Oregon’s taxes. Oregon businesses pay a third of all state taxes and half of local taxes (mainly property taxes). That’s according to the Total State and Local Business Taxes for FY2012 [5] study, prepared by Ernst & Young in conjunction with the Council on State Taxation (COST) – published in 2013. [click here [6] to see the relevant page in the study]
The COST study also noted that Oregon’s total state and local business taxes increased by 8.1% – more than double the national average state increase of 3.9%.
The COST study looks at more than just income taxes. It includes “business property taxes; sales and excise taxes paid by businesses on their input purchases; gross receipts taxes; corporate income and franchise taxes; business and corporate license taxes; unemployment insurance taxes; individual income taxes paid by owners of non-corporate (pass-through) businesses; and other state and local taxes that are the statutory liability of business taxpayers.” An example of an “other state and local tax” here in Oregon would be the Tri-Met tax [7] paid by Portland area [8] businesses.
The COST study has been cited a number of times (including in 2009 [9] and 2011 [10]) by the Oregon Center for Public Policy (OCPP) – “the state’s leading progressive think tank [11].”
UPDATE (6/21): The best response to an Oregon Democratic candidate or official saying that “revenues are now 93% from individuals and 7% from business and corporations in Oregon’s tax structure” is to reply: that’s both inaccurate and extremely deceptive. It is more accurate and honest to say that Oregon businesses pay a third of all state taxes and half of local taxes. But for those who are interested in driving further down into the details, this addendum has been created [12]to supplement the original article.
To read more from Dan, visit www.dan-lucas.com [13]