The legislature convened yesterday to discuss Governor Brown’s bill, sponsored by Representative Kotek (HB4301 – https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2018S1/Measures/Overview/HB4301) to allow sole proprietors to take advantage of Oregon’s lower tax rates for pass-through business. Two months ago, Governor Brown signed SB1528 which detached from the Federal Tax Code a small businesses ability to deduct 20% on pass-through income. This new bill was designed to help sole proprietors but applies only to those businesses with 1,200 employee hours per year.
It passed the Senate 18 ayes to 12 nays and passed the House 51 ayes to 8 nays.
HB4301 was seen by many in the business community as a small consolation because SB1528 denied $200MM per year in tax relief to Oregon’s small businesses. The new bill represents about $11MM per year tax cut.
The regular legislative session begins January 22, 2019. We will keep you informed about the session and items that impact business.
