Taxes

[Claire]

I used to like to do our taxes. Now I HATE it.

Thanks to all those groovy federal tax cuts and credits, the state's economy has tanked....raised taxes, maxed out budgets, eaten up surpluses, canceled programs and passed the buck to local/county programs to find funding.

Ah, so now we have a county income tax that eats my federal return, PLUS we will end up owing the state. Yeah, lots of incentive to get my taxes done again this year. I think I'll wait til April again.

I love this administration.

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by Claire

Thanks to all those groovy federal tax cuts and credits, the state's economy has tanked....

Now, I wouldn't blame the feds for that. AZ is doing just fine, and we have the same federal government as Oregon. I don't know much about the government of Oregon, but perhaps they have some internal policies making life more difficult than it has to be?

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

Now, I wouldn't blame the feds for that. AZ is doing just fine, and we have the same federal government as Oregon. I don't know much about the government of Oregon, but perhaps they have some internal policies making life more difficult than it has to be?

Among other things, Oregon has no sales tax, so the state has less revenue generating power, so they are a lot more dependant on Federal funding.

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

Among other things, Oregon has no sales tax, so the state has less revenue generating power, so they are a lot more dependant on Federal funding.

Really? That's an interesting policy. I think they screw themselves with that, personally, because then they generate virtually no income from tourists, unless they have some sort of bed and board tax.

[sleepyjeff]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

Really? That's an interesting policy. I think they screw themselves with that, personally, because then they generate virtually no income from tourists, unless they have some sort of bed and board tax.

Actually we do have a hotel tax. They manage to tax us and fee us every other way imagineable(including a business tax based on gross receipts...in other words, a hidden sales tax) so when all is said and done we are actually one of the most taxed States in the Nation. People are leaving this State in droves(which is why Vancouver(aka Vantucky) is one of the fastest growing Cities in America) due to high taxes.

.....but at least we don't have to pump our own gas

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by sleepyjeff

They manage to tax us and fee us every other way imagineable(including a business tax based on gross receipts...in other words, a hidden sales tax)

I always think it so funny when someone says we need to tax corporations more to take the burden off the little guy.....businesses don't pay taxes! The consumer does in the form of higher prices.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

I always think it so funny when someone says we need to tax corporations more to take the burden off the little guy.....businesses don't pay taxes! The consumer does in the form of higher prices.

Simple economics shows that, due to supply and demand, when a tax is levied, prices are not raised in proportion to the tax. The supplier absorbs a percentage of the tax, the more inelastic the demand, the lower that percentage. So a product like gasoline, which is very inelastic (as in, people will buy it, even if the price increases significantly), nearly all tax is passed on to consumers. While more expendable products, the demand would drop too much if the price is raised, so the supplier takes on more of the tax. This is why taxing the supply side can generate the same amount of revenue with a proportionately smaller affect on overall prices.