On Friday, July 27, 2018 at 11:18:52 AM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2018-07-27 09:44, jbeattie wrote:
On Friday, July 27, 2018 at 9:05:48 AM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2018-07-27 08:38, jbeattie wrote:
On Friday, July 27, 2018 at 7:52:13 AM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2018-07-26 17:19, jbeattie wrote:

[...]


... DONALD TRUMP IS AGAIN SCREWING YOU PERSONALLY! Stealing
your money and not giving you a path.


He is not. The tax reform alone was a major success. I could
not believe the barrage of project requests I received as a
consultant since January this year. It just comes at the wrong
time in life for me as I am trying to reduce my project load,
easing towards retirement. More brewing, more riding.

I'm a clear loser under the Trump tax plan which means that I am
subsidizing you.


Because you can't deduct the full Oregon income tax anymore? Why
should the rest of the country subsidize left-leaning states in the
first place? That never made sense.


Are you nuts? Why should anyone pay tax on tax?


You don't. This would be fair: You pay x percent on you full AGI in
Oregon and then xx percent to Uncle Sam. It is not Uncle Sam's fault
when some states and sometimes even cities take an additional cut.
People have the option to move to places where that isn't the case.


... The notion of paying
tax on tax has rankled true conservatives for years. Conservatives
hated the AMT. I can see cutting out the mortgage deduction, but
making me pay tax on money I never see . . . really? This was a
punish-your-enemies move.


So please explain: Why does Oregon not let you deduct your federal tax
payment to calculate what you must pay to the folks in Salem?

You can deduct your federal tax payment in Oregon, although it's capped and it phases out at higher earning levels. There is no cap on deducting property tax, which is the killer. And two wrongs don't make a right!


Read the tax plan -- it targets a very specific demographic for
upside and downside. It is one of the retaliatory pieces of
legislation I have seen. Not just misguided or expensive like much
legislation, but a clear stick in the eye to middle-income
blue-staters.


Nope. They are free to move to states with better fiscal behavior. I
live in a blue state but I fully understand that a guy in WA state
(another blue state!) is not willing to subsidize me by giving me a tax
break that he doesn't get and doesn't need. So how exactly is this
disfavoring middle-income blue staters?

Move to the blue state of WA. That fixes your problem. But you'd have to
by more rain coats for cycling.

Well, good point, WA is the exceptional blue state with no income tax, although it has a high sales tax. Property tax is high-ish but not insane like Portland. And I AM moving to Washington when I retire -- to a place with either the same weather (Vancouver area) or drier-but-colder weather across from Hood River. https://dz50uvolvwipn.cloudfront.net..._full-sail.jpg Drive across the bridge and shop tax free! Talk about being suckers, Oregon subsidizes the Washingtonians who shop here tax free.

And with global warming, Oregon/southern Washington is the new Mediterranean -- dry, hot but not scorching. I'm actually starting to miss the rain. I'm still pondering France, but then I'd have to learn French and buy a devil suit.

-- Jay Beattie.