Tax reform impacts discussed at Redmond meeting

The federal tax reform law and tax cuts will affect millions of people. Residents had a chance to discuss the details at a public meeting in Redmond Monday night.

The meeting hosted by the Redmond Patriots featured four panelists who helped expand on several details in the recently passed bill, including the reduction of individual and corporate tax rates, child care tax credit, mortgage interest deductions and it how it affects those in Oregon.

Certified public accountant Richard Little said filing early does not matter, since a majority of the aspects of the bill don’t apply until 2018 and subsequent years.

He also said there is a lot more legal work that needs to happen.

“Oh, there are going to be some major issues here, okay? And I don’t know how Oregon is going to address them,” Little said. “Remember, Oregon piggybacks on the federal system, and a lot of legislatures are not in session now. So between now and this summer, someone has to come into the state of Oregon and make a decision: Do we adopt these federal changes or not?”

Economist Eric Shierman said the tax burden is not determined by how much we want to pay in taxes now. It’s determined by spending.

“It is a fact that most Americans, or most Oregonians, will pay less taxes in 2018 than they did in 2017,” Shierman said. “However, over the course of the next 20 years, that’s the same thing as saying that someone goes into a mortgage and they have a teaser rate, but eventually you are going to pay more in that mortgage.”

Shierman also said he thinks the corporate tax cut is the best part of the new law, because it can spark a lot of economic growth, but it’s also not a revenue-neutral tax cut.

Most people at the meeting simply listened to what all the panelists had to say, as the Measure 101 health care measure and the Oregon Legislature-passed transportation bil also were explained and discussed.