Readers respond: Stimulus provision punishes taxpayers
Updated Feb 08, 2021;
Like most Oregonians this time of year, I recently received all my W-2s and began working on the joyful annual task of doing my taxes. After a difficult year financially, I was just hoping there wouldn’t be any surprises. Unfortunately, I discovered the state has decided to throw struggling working people under the bus by adding a new tax this year, asking for a cut of our federal COVID-19 relief stimulus checks. According to the 2020 version of the OR-17 Tax Income Guide, Federal Tax Worksheet, page 66, the two rounds of federal stimulus checks are to be subtracted from the federal tax liability deduction. This effectively means for most Oregonians, the federal stimulus checks will be taxed at 8.75%.