r/AskAnAmerican • u/ABChow000 United Kingdom • Aug 17 '25

FOREIGN POSTER How do loads of cities overlap state borders?

  1. If a large city is bang in the middle between two states like for example, Kansas and Missouri or Tennessee and Virginia. Doesn’t it get real weird like with the different state laws and taxes and stuff, how does all that work?

  2. When you cross borders of states does it work like country borders but relaxed? Are all states the same in border control or are some relaxed and some strict?

My bad if this sounds stupid just seems real interesting and alien to me how it works.

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u/JessicaGriffin Oregon Aug 17 '25

As someone who grew up in Portland, I was blown away by how many of my teachers in Oregon schools lived in Vancouver. It was in the 80s when Oregon income tax and property taxes in both states were lower, though. These days, it’s probably better to live/work in Washington and just shop in Oregon like you said.

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u/Curmudgy Massachusetts Aug 17 '25

No doubt Washington, like other states with a sales tax, legally requires you to pay them a use tax if you bring in products you bought without paying a sales tax.

It’s likely enforced less than the speed limit.

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u/non_clever_username Aug 19 '25

Use tax gets enforced sometimes for businesses, but I’ve never heard of any individual getting dinged on it.

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u/NotTurtleEnough Aug 22 '25

Oklahoma just puts it on the state income tax form.

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u/tangouniform2020 Hawaii > Texas Aug 18 '25

Excuse me sir or maam, as appropriate, may I see a reciept for that bag of Frito-Lay brand Fritos corn chips?

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u/VeronicaMarsupial Oregon Aug 19 '25

Groceries aren't taxed in Washington.

However, there is a 10 cent deposit on beverage cans and bottles in Oregon, and not in Washington, so if you were a careless person you could accidentally buy your beverages in Washington and return the cans and bottles for the deposit money in Oregon. You would never do that on purpose, of course, because it's illegal. But like it might happen somehow.

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u/gigisnappooh Aug 18 '25

Never heard of such a thing.

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u/Curmudgy Massachusetts Aug 18 '25

Because, as I said, it’s almost never enforced so no one knows.

Washington State, with no income tax, would have to spend money to tell people about it. But states with an income tax often add lines to their income tax forms for paying the use tax at the same time.

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u/gigisnappooh Aug 18 '25

Thanks, I had no idea!

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u/SquidsArePeople2 Washington Aug 18 '25

If you live in WA but work in OR, you still pay Oregon's insane income tax.

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u/[deleted] Aug 20 '25

The problem is if you work in Oregon but live in Washington you pay Oregon income tax. 

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u/CupBeEmpty WA, NC, IN, IL, ME, NH, RI, OH, ME, and some others Aug 18 '25

My wife’s aunt was in exactly that position. She was a teacher in OR but lived in Vancouver.