Lawmakers disagree on business tax breaks

"The Oregon Committee," a coalition of business groups, has expressed disapproval about Senate Bill 301, which would align Oregon's tax code with the federal code.

House Republicans drafted an amendment to satisfy the business concerns, but the House Democrats disagreed.

The bill did not contain a host of more expensive tax breaks that Congress gave small businesses but the state hasn't, including accelerated depreciation of new equipment and machinery.

The business lobby, and many lawmakers, believed those tax breaks -- costing an estimated $90 million-$100 million from the next budget -- would be available in 2011. During discussions about the drafting mistakes, lawmakers learned that legislation passed in 2009 permanently disconnected Oregon's tax code from those federal provisions.

"The Oregon Committee," a coalition of business groups, dashed off a memo to legislators: "Our new understanding that bonus depreciation and Section 179 small business provisions do not automatically reconnect to the federal tax code in 2011 has created a potentially serious rift in the positive environment of the 2011 legislative session."

Read more at OregonLive.com.

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