Stupid Government Tricks

Life insurance proceeds are, with few exceptions, received free of any income tax. But that may change if the Oregon taxer's get their way.

"Oregonians who purchase life insurance and annuity products to assure the financial security of themselves and their loved ones would be hit with a tax that undermines their carefully-made financial protection, long-term savings and retirement income. H.B. 2854 would impose a tax on the life insurance benefits received by Oregon families suffering the death of a loved one. It would also impose a new tax on savings through life insurance and annuities.

Sorry your spouse died. Here is a check, less the state's cut. We need it more than you do.

Good public policy encourages financial security and self-reliance. This is especially so today when Oregon is facing 11 percent unemployment and struggling through a financial crisis that has drained the savings of so many of its citizens. Yet, H.B. 2854 goes in the opposite direction, taxing already beleaguered savings plans and penalizing families when they suffer a loss.

Is there no end to the money grabbing taxer's? Just one more example of stupid government tricks.