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>1. It's nice in that I live in Oregon and there is no sales tax. :P Have you looked at your paycheck and see how much they take out on state income tax? I sp

>1. It's nice in that I live in Oregon and there is no sales tax. :P Have you looked at your paycheck and see how much they take out on state income tax? I spent half a year working in Oregon then another half in CA and when I got my first paycheck in CA after 6 months in Oregon I thought there was a mistake with payroll because we are talking about a few hundred more a paycheck for 2 weeks of work. The difference being state tax level between OR and CA. So in CA I have a couple thousand more in cash to spend (or invest in savings roth ira/401k etc) as compared to making the same salary in Oregon.

pyre 15y ago
It may not be directly related to that, but I don't mind it that much. I like the fact that when I look at the price for something I don't have to add in the sales tax. I sort of like the one-or-the-other approach in Oregon (only income tax, no sales tax) and Washington (only sales tax, no income tax). There are obviously nuances (e.g. Multnomah County has a ~15% tax on car rentals) though.
repiret 15y ago
I've found that my paycheck goes a lot farther since I moved to Oregon. Oregon has (nearly) a flat income tax at 9%, while California has a progressive income tax topping out around 9.5%. The CA income tax advantage shrinks as you make more money. On the other hand, if you don't make a lot of money, then you probably have a lower savings rate. If your savings rate is low, then a large portion of your income is subject to the 7-9% sales tax. It'd be interesting to draw a surface map. On the two horizontal axis put income and savings rate, and make the height the difference between the total effective California tax and Oregon tax. I'd do this now, but I need to sleep instead. Additionally, one should compare CA's Prop 13 with OR's Measure 47. Both limit the rate at which a houses assessed value can grow, but Prop 13 allows for discontinuities of assessed value when a house is bought, while Measure 47 doesn't. As a result, new home owners in OR pay much lower property taxes than new home owners in CA. (By new home owner, I mean someone who newly owns a house, not someone who owns a new house. Measure 47 favors old houses.)

pyre 15y ago

It may not be directly related to that, but I don't mind it that much. I like the fact that when I look at the price for something I don't have to add in the sales tax. I sort of like the one-or-the-other approach in Oregon (only income tax, no sales tax) and Washington (only sales tax, no income tax). There are obviously nuances (e.g. Multnomah County has a ~15% tax on car rentals) though.

repiret 15y ago

I've found that my paycheck goes a lot farther since I moved to Oregon. Oregon has (nearly) a flat income tax at 9%, while California has a progressive income tax topping out around 9.5%. The CA income tax advantage shrinks as you make more money. On the other hand, if you don't make a lot of money, then you probably have a lower savings rate. If your savings rate is low, then a large portion of your income is subject to the 7-9% sales tax. It'd be interesting to draw a surface map. On the two horizontal axis put income and savings rate, and make the height the difference between the total effective California tax and Oregon tax. I'd do this now, but I need to sleep instead. Additionally, one should compare CA's Prop 13 with OR's Measure 47. Both limit the rate at which a houses assessed value can grow, but Prop 13 allows for discontinuities of assessed value when a house is bought, while Measure 47 doesn't. As a result, new home owners in OR pay much lower property taxes than new home owners in CA. (By new home owner, I mean someone who newly owns a house, not someone who owns a new house. Measure 47 favors old houses.)