PLSO The Oregon Surveyor January/February 2020

Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon | www.plso.org 7 Lobbyist Update Other activities PLSOparticipate in includes taking part in Design Professional Day on Monday, February 10 in Salem, which is an important advocacy event bringing state legislators and their staff face to face with Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Landscape Architects to talk about critical issues fac- ing Oregonians. Chairman Jeremy Sherer, Chair-Elect Tim Fassbender, Legislative ChairmanDaveWilliams and Pioneer Chap- ter member John Putman attended with Darrell Fuller. Oregon’s New Corporate Activity Tax The Oregon Department of Revenue will host a series of meetings across the state in March to provide information to busi- ness taxpayers and tax professionals about the administrative rules for Oregon’s new Corporate Activity Tax. Department representatives used input col- lected from stakeholders during a 12-stop tour in fall 2019 in prioritizing and writing the rules. March’s meetings will include a presentation and discussion of the initial temporary rules—the last of which will be filedwith the Secretary of State onMarch 1. “Our CAT team will personally engage our taxpaying communities in March to pro- vide important compliance information. We consistently strive to help taxpayers comply with the law. The CAT team will also solicit feedback on the temporary rules completed to date,” said Nia Ray, director of the Oregon Department of Revenue. The 13-city tour kicks off in Bend onMarch 2 on the campus of Central Oregon Com- munity College. Meetings on the east side of the state are set for March 3 in Ontar- io at Treasure Valley Community College andMarch 4 in La Grande at Zabel Hall on the campus of Eastern Oregon University. The La Grande meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Additional meetings are planned in The Dalles, Klamath Falls, Ashland, Eugene, Gresham, Coos Bay, Lincoln City, Seaside, Beaverton and Keizer. To see the complete schedule go to: https://www.oregon.gov/ DOR/programs/businesses/Documents/ MarchEducationTourSchedule.pdf. House Bill 3427 in 2019 created Oregon’s Corporate Activity Tax and granted DOR the responsibility of writing rules to im- plement it. Four additional rules became effective Feb. 1 with another set of rules scheduled to be filedwith the Secretary of State onMarch 1. All of the rules will be filed as temporary rules with the permanent rule process scheduled to begin April 1. The timing will allowbusiness taxpayers and taxprofession- als to provide comment on the temporary rules during the upcoming meetings in March, as well as during the public com- ment period. The Corporate Activity Tax imposes a 0.57% tax on gross receipts greater than $1 mil- lion after subtractions plus $250, beginning Jan. 1. It is expected to generate $1 billion a year to boost funding for public schools. Those who are unable to attend but want to provide input may email questions or comments to cat.help.dor@oregon.gov . The department is planning a series of conference call meetings for out-of-state taxpayers and Oregon stakeholders who are unable to attend the in-statemeetings. Thosemeetings will be scheduled once the in-state tour is complete.  x