Business sales tax continues decade of billions in new taxes

By Taxpayer Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

Oregon Governor Kate Brown’s $2 billion business sales tax plan only continues a decade-long shameful and painful legacy of raising taxes by the billions.

In 2009, politicians passed a billion dollars in tax increases in a single week.

They raised business taxes, gas taxes and income taxes on higher income earners. It was supposed to solve funding problems but only gave politicians the approval to waste money. The politicians spent $175 million on a bridge that was never built, $298 million on vacant government employees who never worked, and $300 million on a health care website that was never used. $968 million was spent on Energy Tax giveaways which were plagued by scandal, bankruptcies, forgeries, criminal convictions and resignations .

In 2015, they passed a 19-cent hidden gas tax. The funds didn’t go to fixing roads or reducing traffic.

In 2017, they raised a billion in more taxes. It included a new .1% payroll tax, $500 million health care tax, 10-cent gas tax, new car sales tax, $26 auto registration fee increase, new bike tax, 25% truck mileage tax increase and over 580 fee increases. Those fee hikes increased the cost of everything including; hunting, fishing, camping, marriage, divorce and countless business licenses. These fees impacted every part of our daily life and things we can’t live without.

In 2018, they raised a $1.3 billion dollar tax only on small businesses. Big corporate Wall Street firms paid nothing.

In 2019, Governor Kate Brown and the politicians have introduced a $2 billion business sales tax (HB 3427).  Businesses will be forced to charge higher costs for everyday items such as clothing and other home goods.

This will be a hidden sales tax so the customer won’t see the tax added to their receipts. Furthermore, businesses will be taxed on their sales, not profits. This means businesses will be taxed even when they are losing money, making it even harder for honest businesses to grow and persevere through tough times.

Do not be fooled by the many different names of this tax (gross receipts tax, corporate activity tax, business activity tax) because it is simply a business sales tax because it taxes sales even though the customer cannot see it.

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Sources: 2009 taxes: HB 2116, HB 2649, HB 3405, HB 2001. Government waste & mis-spending: Oregonian 7/4/13. Oregonian 5/3/11. Portland Tribune 7/20/16. Portland Tribune 6/23/15. 2015 tax: SB 324. 2017 taxes: HB 2017 & HB 2391, Oregonian 6/15/2017. 2018 Business tax: SB 1528.