Tax Question (Vancouver, Lind: how much, home, unemployment)

[jeremy35]

This is a bit unique as I work for a company in Oregon. Live in Vancouver. Work out of the home office. I believe I don't owe income tax for the days worked in the Vancouver office and only for the days I work in Oregon.

Does anyone know for sure??

[allforcats]

Work performed IN the state of Oregon is subject to Oregon individual income tax. "IN" is defined as the address of the payer/employer. If the employer's address, as it appears on pay statements and, MOST IMPORTANTLY, the W-2 you receive from them, is in Oregon, then Oregon individual income tax must be paid to the state of Oregon for that income. Regardless of where your body or consciousness was when you performed the work, a business entity within the state of Oregon employed you to do that work, so you earned that income "in" Oregon. See?

Wait until you receive your W-2 (or W-2s) from that employer. See what the W-2 says. If you're confused, don't agree, don't know, or don't understand, wait til you have all your tax documents, gather everything, then ASAP take it all to H&R Block, the simplest, least expensive, full-expertise CPAs for the average citizen. They are stunningly knowledgeable, and in Vancouver they will know far, far more than you'll ever need to know, about this OR-WA-cross-border matter. And they're surprisingly inexpensive for all that expertise. A good CPA is worth everything. (I am not a CPA nor assoc. with H&R.)

Have fun!

[jeremy35]

Ah...okay. Will check in with the CPA.

Sounds like I need to have the home office turned into an official Satellite office of the company.

Thanks for the input.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by jeremy35

...Sounds like I need to have the home office turned into an official Satellite office of the company.

That may work, I'll try to ask my CPA on Thursday during my annual 'strategy consult'. I may be in the same boat someday, if I ever get hungry enough to have to go back to work.

You will NOT want to take depreciation on your 'in-home' office, as that will cause havoc when / if you sell and try to exclude gains on personal residence. (you will have to recapture your depreciation or exclude that portion from your gain) AND... be careful on claiming equipment, as WA state will hammer you for 'personal property tax' on stuff like trash cans and paper clips. This is only gonna get worse as the mega gov infrastructure needs to be fed, this is especially disconcerting in Clark County, WA

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by janb

That may work, I'll try to ask my CPA on Thursday during my annual 'strategy consult'. ....

according to my CPA (who is not God...) it is where you physically perform the work. You can work for an OR employer and spend all you time in WA and not pay OR tax. Driving over to pick up your check would be considered 'Inconsequential' to your work activities. I would ask the to come over to WA for staff meetings, you can calculate how much to spend on their coffee and donuts based on what you tax hit would be to file for the few hrs / yr of OR based staff meetings.

My CPA claims to do significant work in many states including weekly payrolls and daily accounting, and occasional site visits, but does not file taxes in each and every state, as his base of operation is about 2 minutes north side of OR border.

If you have a satelitte office in Vancouver, you WILL be paying B&O taxes to Christine, and any personal property tax goes to Linda Franklin, our well clothed Assessor. You may not want to enter the realm of private contractor / or satellite office. Just work from home. (Maybe OR will want you to get a 'green card'

[jeremy35]

Yes Janb...that's what I've found from my CPA and the state.

I will not setup a Satellite office as there is not a need for that. I just have to register with the state for the UBI number (Master Business Application) so I can pay the Workman's Comp and Unemployment taxes.

Being in Vancouver City limits I just need to do a Home Occupancy permit. I don't need a City license as no revenue generation is happening at the home office. All the customers are in Oregon or via website for Oregon.

So all is good! Thanks for you input also!!!