Oregon income taxes (Portland, Eugene, Bend: sales, how much, buying a house)

[LaurenNichols]

Can anyone estimate how much oregon income taxes would cost for a single person making about $35,000-$50,000 per year? I am having a hard time understanding the Oregon tax rates and how fed tax subtractions work, etc..

I'd probably have a $100,000 mortgage, so would itemize that.

The tax rates seem high, but because of the fed tax subtractions, does that mean the effective tax rate is a lot lower than what's in the tax table, and so Oregon is less tax hostile than first glance would indicate? I'm not sure I can afford to live there if the effective tax rates are higher than, say, 6%.

And does living near a place like Bend mean additional significant increases due to local/city taxes?

Thanks

[Terryj]

Your Oregon state income tax is based on 9% of your income above your standard deduction, in your income bracket, federal taxs are tax deductable up to 5000.00 (could be more or less). As far as home owner benifits, I believe that you can only claim your interest paid in that tax year, and yes, you would have to file an itemized tax form.

[Nell Plotts]

The State income tax return and associated instructions is on the internet. Much of the data is based on your Federal return so pull that out and work through the Oregon return. It is available in both a short and long form, which would be better depends on your circumstances.

Another option is to print out last year's Federal return and fill it out as you expect your return to be as an Oregon resident. Then hire an Oregon accountant who has a personal tax practice to compelte an Oregon return for you.

[Steve Pickering]

We have no sales tax. Well not a legal one anyway. So this pushes the income tax up. Property taxes are high also. But again, no sales tax.

[Smiled]

There are no local city taxes that I am aware of. Where do you live now? The reason I ask is that property tax rates in Oregon are about 1/4 to 1/3 the rate of places like Texas, Michigan, and NY. So if you factored in $4-5K of property tax, you are way too high.

[Steve Pickering]

There are cities like Eugene with a local tax.

[Larry Caldwell]

The typical state income tax rate in Oregon is around 6%. You do your federal return and take all your deductions, then add back in the state tax you deducted on your federal return and deduct up to $5000 of the federal income tax you paid, and that gives your taxable income.

The only local taxes are property taxes. Operating levies are capped at 1992 rates plus 3% a year. Bonded indebtedness is not capped, so some jurisdictions will have sky high property taxes, but if you move 5 miles the taxes will be a third as much. Researching property taxes is just one of the things you do when buying a house.

[Steve Pickering]

Larry that depends on the city you live in. Several cities now have local taxes. Such as Eugene's local Gas Tax, or Washington County's Transfer tax. Coos Bay has a landlords tax. It works like the room tax.

[LaurenNichols]

I downloaded the Oregon tax forms this weekend and tried to figure out what my taxes would have been last year. It seems I would have had to pay about $1600 based on my itemized federal return in which I made about $20,000 fed income after deductions.

I've been using zillow to check property prices in Bend or Sisters, and it seems I'd have to pay a few thousand in property taxes on a home of about $200,000 to $250,000

So together, that's about $3600 to $4000 annual combined tax bill (Oregon income and property taxes).

Well, one of my other locations to consider moving to is Austin, TX, and the property taxes there seem to be between 2-3% per $100,000 cost of home, depending on location. That means on a $250,000 home, I would pay about $5000+ in property taxes, plus a hefty state sales taxes on other purchases.

Though Texas has no income taxes, my calculations reveal I'd probably pay more in taxes in Texas than in Oregon.

As a result, I am going to make a long road trip in 2011 to visit various places and then make a final decision where to live. These are the places: Austin Texas, Madison Wisconsin, Bend & Sisters & Klamoth Falls Oregon.

I'd like to visit Washington State as well, but right now I haven't identified any potential sweet spots there where I think I may want to live.

I am looking for areas where I can immerse myself in lots of folk music (I am a singer songwriter), and where I can get a small piece of land with low to reasonable taxes and a small house in a nice safe area near good restaurants and such. I currently live in Florida but this place is going to hell and the folk music is lacking while property prices and taxes and utilities are going up. Also, the food here sucks.

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by LaurenNichols

I am looking for areas where I can immerse myself in lots of folk music (I am a singer songwriter), and where I can get a small piece of land with low to reasonable taxes and a small house in a nice safe area near good restaurants and such. I currently live in Florida but this place is going to hell and the folk music is lacking while property prices and taxes and utilities are going up. Also, the food here sucks.

Strike Klamath Falls off the list - yes, it's the cheapest of the places you list, but there is no real local music scene and the restaurants are not particularly good (there are a few decent places, but nothing great). The biggest attraction of K Falls is the natural area around the city, not the city itself.

I'd suggest looking near - but not in - the towns of Sisters or Ashland - alternately, somewhere outside of Portland but in occasional drive distance, like Silverton or Canby.