Working in Longview, living in Portland? (Hillsboro, Forest Grove: sales, apartments, rent)

[Kate22]

Hi guys. Extremely overwhelmed here.. about to move cross-country to work in Longview, WA, but don't want to live in Longview. I was thinking about moving to Portland... I keep getting conflicting answers about this and I wanted to know two things:


1) Will I have to pay income tax in Portland if I work in Washington but live in Portland?


2) What's the traffic like heading to Kelso in the AM and coming back at like 5ish?




Thanks.

[crisw]

1- Yes. You would be an Oregon resident, so you pay Oregon taxes.

2- It's an hour drive with no traffic. I've not tried it when there is; someone else who has can probably give better info.

[EnricoV]

Yes, if you live in Oregon, you will have to pay Oregon income tax.

Traffic shouldn't be bad, you're going against the commute. But it's a loooong drive.

Personally, I would look at how much time I'd have available for "living" in Portland, with an hour commute each way. It'd be easier to live near work, and go to Portland for entertainment purposes.

[Kate22]

Okay, follow up question. If I rent a place in OR and a place in WA, and establish residency in WA... Do I still need to pay income tax?

[jjpop]

Why not just live in Vancouver, WA? Then you'll be close enough to Portland to enjoy it's offerings, but avoid the OR income tax hit.

[Leisesturm]

Originally Posted by EnricoV

Traffic shouldn't be bad, you're going against the commute. But it's a loooong drive.

Personally, I would look at how much time I'd have available for "living" in Portland, with an hour commute each way. It'd be easier to live near work, and go to Portland for entertainment purposes.

We must answer this question 2x/wk. I fail to understand how someone living cross-country can know that they don't want to live in Vancouver, or Longview, or Forest Grove, or Hillsboro or any of a half dozen places that people don't mind accepting job offers in. I'd understand the reverse... after 5 years of living in Hillsboro with no job prospects, my SO recently got a job in SE. She hates the commute. Hates it. Everyday I have to talk her down from the stress of the 90 min commute. That is what a 60 minute commute ends up being at least 2X/wk if you are doing it every weekday. And regardless of what kind of car you drive you are putting a LOT of the money you will earn in Exxon-Mobils coffers. There is also a definite link between America's fascination with long commutes and our outlier divorce rate. Just saying.

H

[Leisesturm]

Originally Posted by Kate22

Okay, follow up question. If I rent a place in OR and a place in WA, and establish residency in WA... Do I still need to pay income tax?

|'m trying to decide if you are a tr*ll or not. Help me out... rent two seperate apartments to save on income tax? Really? WA might not have income tax but they do have sales tax. Oregon does not have a sales tax. That's huge. Why? Because you have to buy things. You don't have to pay income tax. There are things called deductions. About the only positive quality my ex-wife had was her ability to get our income tax bill to zero, every year we were married.
H

Edit: The following link has not been read by its source, that would be me, so... FWIW:

http://www.ehow.com/how_5127568_dete...-purposes.html

[Kate22]

Originally Posted by Leisesturm

|'m trying to decide if you are a tr*ll or not. Help me out... rent two seperate apartments to save on income tax? Really? WA might not have income tax but they do have sales tax. Oregon does not have a sales tax. That's huge. Why? Because you have to buy things. You don't have to pay income tax. There are things called deductions. About the only positive quality my ex-wife had was her ability to get our income tax bill to zero, every year we were married. FWIW.

H

Sorry. If I rent a $400-500/mo apartment in Washington, that would still be a lot less than the income tax I would have to pay in Oregon. I wouldn't live in that apartment though, I would live in the one in Portland, so I would shop in Portland, so no sales tax?

[Kate22]

Originally Posted by Leisesturm

We must answer this question 2x/wk. I fail to understand how someone living cross-country can know that they don't want to live in Vancouver, or Longview, or Forest Grove, or Hillsboro or any of a half dozen places that people don't mind accepting job offers in. I'd understand the reverse... after 5 years of living in Hillsboro with no job prospects, my SO recently got a job in SE. She hates the commute. Hates it. Everyday I have to talk her down from the stress of the 90 min commute. That is what a 60 minute commute ends up being at least 2X/wk if you are doing it every weekday. And regardless of what kind of car you drive you are putting a LOT of the money you will earn in Exxon-Mobils coffers. There is also a definite link between America's fascination with long commutes and our outlier divorce rate. Just saying.

H

Luckily I'm not married.. haha. I am a female in my early 20's moving by myself. I want to live in a big city where I can do things and get out and meet people and feel not alone. I know this sounds stupid to some, but I have been to Longview/Vancouver/Kelso etc, and I just didn't feel all that great and can't picture myself living there. Vancouver is certainly a lot better than Longview/Kelso, and that's what I originally had in mind... So, yea, I don't know.

[Minervah]

Are you kidding me? Rent an apartment you would not be living in? That would cost more than any tax you would be avoiding. Plus I doubt any landlord would go along with that. Unless you want to use that Portland apartment to stay overnight in when you are out partying in Portland and have to go to work the next day for that long drive to Longview. I don't get it though, that's just not a good idea.

Live in Vancouver, you can easily drive over the river to Portland for any activities you want to engage in.