A union-backed group plans to ask voters in 2016 to consider new tax measures.
BY JACOB PALMER | OB DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
A union-backed group plans to ask voters in 2016 to consider new tax measures.
OregonLive.com reported on the group’s plans to bolster funding for schools and other government services.
“What we’re not willing to do is let another two, four or six years slip by while another generation of Oregonians suffers.” said Heather Conroy, executive director of Service Employees International Union Local 503, the state’s largest union. “We feel there is urgency at this point to move forward.”
The union drive could overshadow the Legislature’s more modest agenda on taxes and ignite a major political war next year over whether the state’s big economic players can afford to pay more in taxes or whether it would drive businesses away and depress employment. In many ways, it echoes the national debate between President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans over his call to raise taxes on the wealthy and major corporations to provide more help for struggling families.
OregonLive.com is also running a series on completing tax returns.
A major thing to consider is that lawmakers limited a tax break for seniors to write off their medical costs.
For 2014, it becomes a bit more restrictive: The age at which a senior can claim this deduction increases from 62 to 63. By 2020, only those 66 or older will be able to claim it.
Last year, the deduction amount was capped at $1,800 per senior, but $1,400 for singles with adjusted gross incomes between $25,000 and $50,000 and joint filers between $50,000 and $100,000.
Additionally, businesses required to submit W-2s electronically have encountered roadblocks since the state’s submission site is not working.
OregonLive.com’s Brent Hunsberger explains:
Businesses preparing more than 10 Form 1099s, which reporting payments made to contractors, also must submit them via iWire. These anti-fraud measures went into effect partly to prevent fraud the likes that of which netted Salem caregiver Krystle Marie Reyes a $2.1 million refund in 2011, experts say.
But the portal is not yet able to receive batch uploads of W-2s or 1099s. Businesses can enter the information manually, but that doesn’t work well for firms who generate the reports using Quickbooks, said Greg Rogers, an accountant with Rogers Financial Services in Oregon City. The filing deadline is March 31. Late penalties are $50 per form up to a maximum of $2,500, Rogers said.
