Letter: National sales tax proposal is unacceptable

Published 6:00 am Tuesday, February 14, 2023

If there’s one thing we can agree on, Oregonians hate sales tax. That’s why the 30% national sales tax being proposed in Congress is unacceptable. That proposal turns every producer and business owner into a tax collector while bumping up the pre-income cost of doing business by a third.

It would make the up-front cost of small agriculture unmanageable. (Right now good hay is at least $14 a bale. Are you up for $18 a bale up front, remembering that this means no agriculture tax reductions?) Add in the 6% sales tax the county’s effort to support the Greater Idaho project would add, and that’s $19 a bale.

Are your purchasers ready to add 36% to their grocery bills? Are you willing to become their tax collector?

KC Bowman

Joseph