Stoel Rives attorney Robert Manicke was recently quoted in the East Oregonian in an article titled “‘B’ corps wince at possible tax exemption.” The article discusses the implications of a union-backed proposed tax measure that would require certain corporations to pay a 2.5 percent tax on sales in Oregon greater than $25 million.
B corporations, which are certified and registered with the state as “benefit companies” for their intention to seek to meet other goals as well as profits, such as sustainability, would be exempted from the tax, raising the fear that companies might register as a B corporation solely to avoid taxes and undermine the program’s reputation for encouraging environmentally and socially responsible businesses.
Even if benefit companies didn’t have the exemption, many would avoid the tax by neither reaching the sales threshold or being registered as a “C” corporation, the only classification subject to the tax. But Manicke said that companies that sell high volumes of items with low profit margins such as grocery stores “would be affected strongly” by the tax plan.
Read “Read “‘B’ corps wince at possible tax exemption,” published on November 27, 2015.