Due to recently-passed state tax changes, Oregon businesses will see a 41% increase in state taxes by 2022, according to a new report from the nonprofit State Tax Research Institute (STRI). The OBI Foundation worked with STRI to commission the analysis, which was completed by the national accounting firm Ernst & Young.
STRI says that, in just a couple of years, Oregon will jump from 40th in the nation, to 19th in its annual rankings of state tax burden.
“In our 18 years of producing an annual analysis of state and local business tax burdens across the country, we’ve never seen a state jump so far and so fast in our rankings,” said Doug Lindholm of the State Tax Research Institute. “Unprecedented state and local tax increases have shifted Oregon from a modest business tax burden state to a high business tax state above the national average and higher than Idaho, Washington and California.”
In addition to the state tax burden increase, the study showed that the Portland-metro region could face a business tax increase of as much as 42% if all of the measures on the November ballot pass.
“Oregon and Portland-metro compete with states and metro regions across the country for new job development, and especially with our fellow western states,” said OBI President and CEO Sandra McDonough. “Cost matters. This increase in business tax burden is significant and has the potential of making it harder for our state to grow new jobs – and recover from this recession – if we don’t put the brakes on new taxes.”
The OBI Education and Research Foundation commissioned the research. The analysis looked at the increase in the statewide business tax burden since the 2019 legislative session, as well as the cumulative impact of tax increases in the Portland-metro region that have already been enacted or that are going before voters on Nov. 3.
READ THE REPORT
Several media outlets around the state covered the report’s release:
- Portland Business Journal: Oregon business taxes jump from 40th to 19th
- Willamette Week: Study Shows Multnomah County Will Have Nation’s Highest Income Taxes for High-Income Earners if Preschool Measure Passes
- The Oregonian: Oregon’s business taxes, long among the nation’s lowest, are set to jump – the corporate lobby wants to draw a line
- Portland Tribune: Statewide business group sounds alarm on taxes