At nearly every turn, Oregon’s tax policies widen inequality; as a result, the top 1 percent pay less state and local taxes as a share of income than the poorest residents. Taxing capital gains at the local level is an important and exciting move in the other direction – to tax income from wealth and use it to address crucial needs.
Oregon
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blog May 10, 2023 Voters Could Approve Local Capital Gains Tax in Oregon
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ITEP Work in Action April 6, 2023 Oregon Center for Public Policy: Beyond the Water’s Edge: Oregon Can Make it Harder for Corporations to Hide Profits Overseas
Oregon can clamp down on multinational corporations shifting profits overseas, create a more level playing field for Oregon businesses, and raise millions in revenue by enacting “complete reporting” by large… -
ITEP Work in Action March 29, 2023 Oregon Center for Public Policy: How to Pay (PAE) for It? Enact Complete Reporting
Making Oregonians more economically secure requires investing in our well-being: housing, education, child care, and more. One fair way to pay for these investments is to fight corporate tax avoidance… -
ITEP Work in Action November 3, 2022 Oregon Center for Public Policy: Wealth Inequality in Oregon Is Extreme
How extreme is wealth inequality in Oregon? So extreme that, together, three billionaires residing in the state have about twice the wealth as that of the entire bottom half of… -
ITEP Work in Action June 24, 2021 Oregon State Legislature: House Committee On Revenue 06/24/2021
Oregon lawmakers discuss a SALT-cap workaround provision. ITEP analysis found that in Oregon more than 91 percent of the tax cut benefits of repealing the SALT cap would go to… -
ITEP Work in Action April 7, 2021 Oregon Center for Public Policy: A better reality for Oregonians requires flipping the tax system
As vaccines for COVID-19 make their way into the arms of Americans, a sense of normality feels within reach. But going back to normal is not what working Oregonians need.… -
blog November 30, 2020 After the Dust Has Settled: How Progressive Tax Policy Fared in the General Election
While the results of the 2020 presidential election are all but set in stone—and a sign of life for progressive policy—the results of state tax ballot initiatives are more of a mixed bag. However, the overall fight for tax equity and raising more revenue to invest in people and communities is trending in the right direction.
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blog July 18, 2019 Many States Move Toward Higher Taxes on the Rich; Lower Taxes on Poor People
Several states this year proposed or enacted tax policies that would require high-income households and/or businesses to pay more in taxes. After years of policymaking that slashed taxes for wealthy households and deprived states of revenue to adequately fund public services, this is a necessary and welcome reversal.
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ITEP Work in Action November 15, 2018 Oregon Center for Public Policy: Oregon Can Raise $376 Million by Clamping Down on Offshore Corporate Tax Avoidance
Oregon can clamp down on multinational corporations shifting profits overseas, create a more level playing field for Oregon businesses, and raise millions in revenue by enacting “complete reporting” by large corporations. That law would make it difficult for multinational corporations to avoid Oregon corporate income taxes by artificially shifting profits earned in Oregon to subsidiaries located abroad.
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ITEP Work in Action November 2, 2018 Oregon Center for Public Policy: It’s Time to Fix Oregon’s Regressive Tax Structure
Oregon’s poorest families pay more in taxes as a share of income than any group of taxpayers in the state, while the richest Oregonians pay the smallest share of any group. That is the conclusion of a new report by the Washington, D.C.-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP).
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ITEP Work in Action October 25, 2018 Oregon Center for Public Policy: Measure 105 Would Set Oregon Back
Immigrants, regardless of their immigration status, give the economy a boost. In Marion County alone, undocumented immigrants pay more than $14 million in taxes every year to local and state… -
ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Oregon Center for Public Policy: Oregon Taxes Fall Hardest on Those Who Earn the Least
Oregon’s poorest families pay more in taxes as a share of income than any group of taxpayers in the state, while the richest Oregonians pay the smallest share of any group. That is the conclusion of a new report by the Washington, D.C.-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP).
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Oregon Center for Public Policy: Undocumented Workers in Multnomah County Pay Millions in Oregon Taxes
An estimated 27,000 undocumented Multnomah County residents pay nearly $19 million annually in state and local taxes. For perspective, that is enough to hire 217 teachers. Read more here -
ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Oregon Center for Public Policy: Undocumented Workers in Washington County Pay Millions in Oregon Taxes
An estimated 27,000 undocumented Washington County residents pay more than $20 million annually in state and local taxes. For perspective, that is enough to hire 232 teachers. Read more here -
ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 Oregon Center for Public Policy: Undocumented Workers in Marion County Pay Millions in Oregon Taxes
An estimated 18,000 undocumented Marion County residents pay nearly $14 million annually in state and local taxes. For perspective, $14 million is enough to hire 157 teachers. Read more here -
October 17, 2018 Oregon: Who Pays? 6th Edition
OREGON Read as PDF OREGON STATE AND LOCAL TAXES Taxes as Share of Family Income Top 20% Income Group Lowest 20% Second 20% Middle 20% Fourth 20% Next 15% Next… -
September 26, 2018 Tax Cuts 2.0 – Oregon
The $2 trillion 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) includes several provisions set to expire at the end of 2025. Now, GOP leaders have introduced a bill informally called… -
ITEP Work in Action June 5, 2018 Oregon Center for Public Policy: Legislature Leaves Oregon Largely Defenseless Against Corporate Abuse of Tax Havens
The repeal of Oregon’s tax haven law flowed from the legislature’s response to the far-reaching tax law passed by Congress at the end of 2017. The federal law required corporations to pay taxes, at a reduced rate, on more than $2 trillion in profits they held abroad. The federal tax law also put in place provisions intended to deter future shifting of corporate profits to avoid taxes.
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blog May 22, 2018 Most States Have Raised Gas Taxes in Recent Years
An updated version of this blog was published in April 2019.
State tax policy can be a contentious topic, but in recent years there has been a remarkable level of agreement on one tax in particular: the gasoline tax. Increasingly, state lawmakers are deciding that outdated gas taxes need to be raised and reformed to fund infrastructure projects that are vital to their economies.
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ITEP Work in Action February 19, 2018 Oregon Center for Public Policy: Repealing Oregon’s Tax Haven Law is a $20 Million Gamble
The Oregon legislature should act prudently and refrain from hastily eliminating the state’s tax haven law. Otherwise, the legislature could be making it easier for multinational corporations to avoid paying Oregon corporate taxes, potentially costing the state millions.
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December 16, 2017 How the Final GOP-Trump Tax Bill Would Affect Oregon Residents’ Federal Taxes
The final tax bill that Republicans in Congress are poised to approve would provide most of its benefits to high-income households and foreign investors while raising taxes on many low-… -
December 6, 2017 How the House and Senate Tax Bills Would Affect Oregon Residents’ Federal Taxes
The House passed its “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” November 16th and the Senate passed its version December 2nd. Both bills would raise taxes on many low- and middle-income families in every state and provide the wealthiest Americans and foreign investors substantial tax cuts, while adding more than $1.4 trillion to the deficit over ten years. The graph below shows that both bills are skewed to the richest 1 percent of Oregon residents.
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November 14, 2017 How the Revised Senate Tax Bill Would Affect Oregon Residents’ Federal Taxes
The Senate tax bill released last week would raise taxes on some families while bestowing immense benefits on wealthy Americans and foreign investors. In Oregon, 41 percent of the federal tax cuts would go to the richest 5 percent of residents, and 16 percent of households would face a tax increase, once the bill is fully implemented.
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November 6, 2017 How the House Tax Proposal Would Affect Oregon Residents’ Federal Taxes
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was introduced on November 2 in the House of Representatives, includes some provisions that raise taxes and some that cut taxes, so the net effect for any particular family’s federal tax bill depends on their situation. Some of the provisions that benefit the middle class — like lower tax rates, an increased standard deduction, and a $300 tax credit for each adult in a household — are designed to expire or become less generous over time. Some of the provisions that benefit the wealthy, such as the reduction and eventual repeal of the estate tax, become more generous over time. The result is that by 2027, the benefits of the House bill become increasingly generous for the richest one percent compared to other income groups.
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October 4, 2017 GOP-Trump Tax Framework Would Provide Richest One Percent in Oregon with 58.4 Percent of the State’s Tax Cuts
The “tax reform framework” released by the Trump administration and congressional Republican leaders on September 27 would not benefit everyone in Oregon equally. The richest one percent of Oregon residents would receive 58.4 percent of the tax cuts within the state under the framework in 2018. These households are projected to have an income of at least $532,000 next year. The framework would provide them an average tax cut of $42,090 in 2018, which would increase their income by an average of 2.5 percent.