The Oregonian headline shouted “Beware of Small Business Tax Hike” over State Representative David Gomberg’s bill (HB 4067) that hits Oregon small businesses with a huge tax increase. HB 4067 bill would cancel the 2013 small business tax cuts package (he voted for) before a single person gets tax relief. His plan gives tax relief to only the smallest of Oregon’s businesses.
David Gomberg has since issued an amendment. He wishes to add more business to benefit but take it out of the flesh of existing larger businesses. It represents the traditional twisted view of how liberal tax hungry politicians see tax relief which is not actual tax relief in the macro-sense but rather moving benefits from one business and giving it to another (as if they were economic gods). It fits the perfect axiom that politicians like to pick winners and losers in our economy. Liberals like to take tax relief from business as opposed to touching state government’s $60 billion biennial budget. Since Oregon is in the top 20 biggest spending states in the nation there is ample room to offer tax relief to small businesses. Taking profit from one business and giving it to another is not the path to prosperity.
The other suspicion behind Gomberg’s quick tax-change of the October 2013 Grand Bargain tax package is that it may be used to eliminate scores of businesses from tax relief before they know about it. The projected number of businesses to be helped by the upcoming tax relief maybe small because the tax relief has not occurred. It does not factor in the number of business who may easily change their tax structure to qualify for their small business tax relief. Gomberg’s tax bill (HB 4067) would shut these small business owners from tax relief and deny them a chance to participate. This is why David Gomberg’s claim that the number of small businesses financially hurt by his bill is small — when it may indeed by huge. David Gomberg is likely gambling to steal their tax relief before they even find out that it is available.