PDX/Vancouver residents please read

[928vette]

I am thinking about relocating to the PDX/Vancouver area.
Can anyone shed some light on the state income tax situation up there for me?

I hear that Washington state has no state income tax, while Oregon does.

1. If you live on the Vancouver side and work in PDX, do you still have the oregon state income tax deducted from your paychecks, or can you claim exempt for that, or do you get it refunded at tax time?
2. If you live in PDX and work in Vancouver, how does that situation work?
3. Any other advantages to living on either side compared to the other in regards to cost of living?

Thanks in advance for your help!!

 

[1sttruck]

Also OR doesn't have a sales tax while WA does, and tags in OR are cheaper than in WA. I live in WA and work in OR, so I pay OR income tax and often pay WA sales tax, plus the higher WA tags. You get some deduction on OR income tax when filing, but I still end up being one of the higher taxed people's in the US. Still, lots of people are relocating to WA as the schools are better funded.

Some try to live in WA and have an mailing address in OR for OR tags, but the state patrol sometimes sits at popular on ramps in the morning and pulls people over if they have OR tags. WA also has a bounty program where you can turn your neighbor in if they appear to be cheating on their tags.

 

[pmwalter]

In Oregon I have the privilage of:

Federal Income Tax - (of course)
State Income Tax
Property Tax
LOTS and LOTS of Gas Tax
Stop to look at the ocean..$5 day pass
Stop to throw a snowball at your kids in the mountains....$5 day pass

I would pick one or the other if I were you. That is unless you have a great job where you could afford the additional cost.

 

[andrews]

pmwalter, not much different in Washington. One day we'll both wake up and have to pay a tax for the sunrise.

 

[Palut]

I'd take Washington. Here we get to pump our own gas, and the freeways have higher speed limits. The city streets also seem to be far better marked in WA, but that can vary from town to town.

All in all, I hate Oregon with a passion!!!

 

[andrews]

Oregon is more known for it's "progressive" government and populace than Washington is. Even though Washington State and the Puget Sound region are just as left, the rest of the state leans right. If you consider yourself part of the latter, Oregon may please you....at least they will like getting your tax dollars. If your not, Washington is slighly more friendly to the right....but only measured in microscopic terms. As far as vacation areas, they both have great things to see. Mt. Rainier and the Washington cascades are fantastic, but can get crowded if you don't know where/when to go. Oregon has the cascades as well and they also have a very beautiful eastern/central region. Either way they both are comparable, but from a financial standpoint, I would pick Washington. From a rural/beauty/recreation standpoint, I would just barely pick Oregon.

 

[williar]

quote:

---

1. If you live on the Vancouver side and work in PDX, do you still have the oregon state income tax deducted from your paychecks, or can you claim exempt for that, or do you get it refunded at tax time?
2. If you live in PDX and work in Vancouver, how does that situation work?
3. Any other advantages to living on either side compared to the other in regards to cost of living?

---

In reply,

1. If you live in WA & work in OR you must file & pay OR income tax.
2. If you live in OR & work in WA you still must pay OR income tax.
3. If you live in WA you can shop in OR and avoid sales tax. Property taxes are a bit less in WA, but not by too much in the Vancouver area, IIRC.

 

[928vette]

Thanks for all your replies and opinions.....

I have been to the area many times, spent all my time in PDX and outlying areas, but never spent any real time on the 'couve side.
I think my plan of attack is to concentrate on finding a place to live on the WA side.

I found these links on the each of the cities' websites, Can anyone suggest areas to avoid and the nicer areas of each city?

Vancouver - http://www.ci.vancouver.wa.us/nhoods.asp?menuid=10461&submenuid=10467

Portland - http://www.portlandonline.com/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=32643

As far as what I know about PDX...
I do like the Pearl district and all the work they have done there. My first visit was before all the renovation started and my last visit there was last summer and I was impressed with all the work they have done. I know it is a very expensive area to live in and I would prefer to find a place with a garage for my 'yota

As best as I can remember, the PDX 'hood' is right on the east side of the downtown area across the river, but what about the Gresham area?
The 'newer' suburban area is out west towards Hillsboro past Beaverton, but I hear the traffic on the 26 is ridiculous. I most likely won't be working 9-5, so that might not be an issue, or is the traffic a mess all day long on the 26?

 

[Palut]

quote:

---

Originally posted by andrews:
Oregon is more known for it's "progressive" government and populace than Washington is. Even though Washington State and the Puget Sound region are just as left, the rest of the state leans right. If you consider yourself part of the latter, Oregon may please you....at least they will like getting your tax dollars. If your not, Washington is slighly more friendly to the right....but only measured in microscopic terms.

---

I think you're spot on about the political leanings of both states.

Because of all the crap going on with the Washington state government right now, I believe that we may be about to see a swing back towards the right. Whether or not that happens, and how much of a swing it will be is anybody's guess. I'm guessing that we'll move right, but not too far. And probably not for too long.

 

[1sttruck]

Yup, like everywhere else there is a big urban/rural split in WA and OR, where in WA there was even talk about creating a new state in the eastern part of the state. And like everywhwere lese pork is always someone else's projects that taxes pay for, while 'my' projects make sense. The rural areas despise the urban areas for all of the welfare state programs, but are silent about the railroad grants that enabled the rural areas to be developed, the state and federal land grants for settling, the federally mandated rural electrification programs, the state and federal irrigation projects, the state and federal road building programs, the federal timber and logging road subsidies, taxpayer subsidized mining rights, crop subsidies, etc.

In some cases I agree though, as the Seattle area pretty much used state taxes to subsidize building a new baseball stadium, somethat OR also did for the 'JailBlazers'.