It's that time of year again. Time to exploit the obscure Oregon tax law that allows that individuals who donate up to $50 to a political action committee (PAC) to knock that amount, dollar for dollar, off their taxes.

So you can either pay the state $50 more in April, or you can donate it now to a cause you actually care about. Don't be against putting money into politics. Winning elections costs money. The problem is that there's lots of big, corporate money in politics and not enough $50 donations from people who actually care about issues. The deadline for the PAC contribution is January 1st, though, so get moving.

Mandate Media put together this easy primer about the credit or you can look through the state's official but more incomprehensible explanation.

The key thing to note is that you have to donate to a political group, not just a nonprofit. So that means you can't get the money back with a donation to Planned Parenthood but you can get the money back if you cut a $50 check to Planned Parenthood's PAC, the political arm of the organization. Same goes for Basic Rights Oregon's PAC or the Bus Project PAC.