72nd OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2003 Regular Session
NOTE: Matter within { + braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within { - braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
{ + braces and plus signs + } .
LC 2207
Senate Bill 344
Sponsored by Senator CORCORAN
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
Requires certain corporations to file statement containing tax
liability and related information with Secretary of State. Makes
statements public records. Applies beginning in calendar year
2004. Allows imposition of civil penalties.
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to availability of tax information.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. { + Sections 2 and 3 of this 2003 Act are added to
and made a part of ORS chapter 60. + }
SECTION 2. { + The Legislative Assembly finds that:
(1) The federal tax liability of publicly traded corporations
is reported to federal regulatory agencies and is available for
the public to review.
(2) There is no evidence that detailed federal reporting has
injured corporations.
(3) Disclosure of the federal tax liability of publicly traded
corporations has shown a wide variance among the corporations in
tax liability and that some large corporations paid less in
federal taxes than many average income individuals, with some
paying no federal income taxes or receiving millions of dollars
in tax rebates, while others were paying taxes at extraordinarily
high rates.
(4) Over the five-year period from 1996 to 2000, Enron, the
parent company of Portland General Electric, received a net tax
rebate of $381 million, including a $278 million tax rebate in
2000 alone, while over the same period the company's profit
before federal income taxes totaled $1.785 billion, and in none
of those years was the company's pretax profit less than $87
million.
(5) Disclosure of federal tax liability has shown that some
corporations in direct competition with each other received
unequal tax treatment and obtained vastly different after-tax
returns on investments due to the peculiarities of the tax code.
(6) In response to public disclosure in the 1980s, Congress
undertook landmark tax reform in 1986, led by former Oregon
Senator Bob Packwood.
(7) Since the passage of Ballot Measure 5 in 1990, the
Legislative Assembly and the public have been increasingly
interested in the shift in tax liability from corporations to
individuals.
(8) Many Oregon corporations and economic development officials
have sought and obtained tax expenditures and changes to the tax
code that lower corporate taxes ostensibly to encourage Oregon
corporations to grow and prosper and to encourage corporations to
locate in Oregon.
(9) Many Oregon corporations have derived significant benefit
from these state or local tax expenditures and tax code changes.
(10) The 'State of Oregon 2003-05 Tax Expenditure Report, '
produced pursuant to the Budget Accountability Act, shows that
corporate income tax expenditures will total $480 million for the
2001-2003 biennium, while the estimated total corporate income
tax collections will total just $395 million.
(11) Oregon's tax system may put some Oregon-based corporations
at a competitive disadvantage compared to corporations controlled
out-of-state that conduct business in Oregon.
(12) In 2000, two-thirds of Oregon's C corporations, or 23,610
corporations, paid only Oregon's $10 corporate minimum tax. The
corporate minimum tax was set at that level in 1931.
(13) Oregon corporations may have the same disparity in tax
liability as has occurred in federal tax liability.
(14) Disclosure at the state level will lead to better analysis
and the development of appropriate and sound tax policy for
Oregon. + }
SECTION 3. { + (1) The following corporations that are engaged
in business in this state and that are required to file an excise
or income tax return for purposes of ORS chapter 317 or 318 shall
file with the Secretary of State the statement described in
subsection (2) of this section:
(a) All publicly traded corporations.
(b) All financial corporations and insurers, both as defined in
ORS 317.010.
(c) All corporations not described in paragraph (a) or (b) of
this subsection having on the January 1 preceding a number of
full-time employees in excess of __, or for the period referred
to in subsection (2)(b) of this section, sales in excess of $__.
(2) The statement shall be on a form prescribed by the
Secretary of State and shall contain the following information:
(a) The name of the corporation and the name of the registered
agent to accept service.
(b) The state excise tax or income tax liability under ORS
chapter 317 or 318 of the corporation for the tax year ending in
the fiscal period beginning July 1 and ending June 30 immediately
before the date the statement is required to be filed.
(c) The property tax liability of the corporation for the tax
year beginning July 1 and ending June 30 immediately before the
date the statement is required to be filed.
(d) The taxable income allocated or apportioned to Oregon for
the tax year described in paragraph (b) of this subsection.
(3) The statement shall be filed no later than September 1 of
each calendar year beginning with the calendar year 2004. If a
corporation files an amended return, the corporation shall file a
revised statement under this section not later than 60 calendar
days after the amended return is filed.
(4) The statements required by this section shall be maintained
as public records in the office of the Secretary of State. The
Secretary of State shall furnish to any person, upon payment of a
fee as provided under ORS 56.140, a copy of any statement filed
under this section.
(5)(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection,
following an investigation and in addition to any other penalty
that may be imposed, the Secretary of State may impose a civil
penalty not to exceed $1,000 for:
(A) Failure to file a statement required to be filed under this
section.
(B) Failure to include in a statement filed under this section
the information required under subsection (2) of this section.
(b) The Secretary of State may impose a civil penalty not to
exceed $10,000 for each violation amounting to a
misrepresentation of any information required to be disclosed
under subsection (2) of this section.
(c) Civil penalties under this section shall be imposed as
provided in ORS 183.090.
(6) Nothing in this section permits disclosure to the Secretary
of State, or any employee or agent of the Secretary of State, by
the Department of Revenue or its employees of any information
under ORS 308.290 or 314.835 that the department may not
disclose. + }
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