People like to feel included and surrounded by others who feel as they do. This applies to philosophy, the arts, music, religion, ranching, politics and most other facets of our lives. Wanting to feel included comes into play in the desire, by some, to want to join Idaho as a state.

Sitting with friends, a cup of coffee in hand, is a great way to air grievances. Among these are taxes. Taxes are high just about everywhere. They are much worse in many foreign countries. In Oregon, we are lucky to not have a sales tax.

How many of us who want to join Idaho, have looked beyond our desire to feel included? Taxes discourage me from joining Idaho. Consider how becoming a part of Idaho will affect the amount of taxes we will pay. Idaho has a minimum 6% sales tax — on everything.

Some Idaho counties and municipalities add a 3% sales tax, making it 9%. That means that $100 worth of food will cost as much as $109. A family of four, paying, say $4,000 a year on food (probably a conservative figure) would pay $240-$360 a year in food tax. Clothes, pet food, livestock feed and supplies, eating out and everything else is included in the sales tax.

Need a new car? A $30,000 car would be as much as $32,700. Do your cattle need supplemental feed, or those big, expensive tubs of VitaLix? It would cost 6%-9% more. What about the tax on hay, if you don’t raise it yourself? Need a new $100,000 piece of farm equipment? It would be $106,000-$109,000 in Idaho. You get the idea. This takes a real bite out of an already tight budget for many of us.

Anyone who owns a retail business, or sells products or services, will have another layer of government paperwork to do. You will have to keep more records to pay the sales taxes that you have collected from consumers.

I looked up other taxes in Idaho. It appears that my current farm tax deferral would be void and I would pay nearly triple what I am paying in property tax. It doesn’t look like a family in the middle income bracket would pay much different income tax from Oregon.

I advise anyone who wants to know what taxes and record-keeping they would face in Idaho look at the details online. It is a little complicated, but it could be worth your time.

For my money, I feel included enough right here in Oregon. 

Sharon McEwan

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