Doing Something About the $10 Corporate Minimum Tax

It looks as though the 75th Oregon Lege is poised to do something about the absurdly-low $10 Corporate Minimum Tax.

Governor K has introduced two bills–HB 2119 and HB 2070–that take steps to address the problem.

HB 2119 establishes a new higher minimum for C Corporations only that do $50,000 or less in sales Oregon of $25, with a progressive scale topping out for businesses doing $1,000,000 or more of $5,000.

HB 2070, as defined by Associated Oregon Industries:

proposes to replace the current $10 corporate minimum tax with a New
Hampshire-style business activity tax.  Under this proposal, a minimum
tax would be imposed on C-corporations at a rate of 0.2 percent of the
corporation’s “enterprise value tax base,” defined as the total of the
corporation’s employee compensation, interest and dividends. 
Corporations with less than $100,000 in gross receipts would be exempt
from this new minimum tax.

Either way, corporations would pay the higher of the two tax rates.

In related news, Associated Oregon Industries hates you:

AOI’s board-adopted policy position supports an increase in the
corporate minimum tax from $10 to $300, but does not support a tax
increase on business as substantial as either proposed by HB 2070 or HB 2119.  AOI will therefore oppose both bills.

So suck on that, Mr and Mrs Oregonian Working Person. Take your unfair share of the tax burden or we'll get you a shorter chain. See if we dont!

In Other News: Chuck Sheketcoff writes at Blue Oregon that Oregon, as you might have guessed, the second lowest business taxes in the nation. So, the next time someone complains to you that the tax burden for business in Oregon is just so huge, point 'em over there. Or maybe just look at 'em funny and back away slowly.