Oregon taxpayers have already claimed nearly $1.6 billion of the record $5.61 billion surplus revenue kicker tax credit being returned to taxpayers in 2024, the Oregon Department of Revenue announced.
The department also reported that it has received more than 950,000 tax returns thus far this year. Another 1.2 million returns are expected to be filed in 2024 and more than $4 billion in kicker surplus remains to be claimed. The tax filing deadline is April 15.
“More than 1 million taxpayers still need to file and we are urging Oregonians not to wait until the last minute,” said Megan Denison, administrator of the agency’s Personal Tax and Compliance Division. “We also urge anyone who is owed a kicker to file and claim it.”
The kicker—the largest in state history—is being returned to taxpayers through a credit on their 2023 state personal income tax returns filed in 2024. The credit is based on tax liability for the 2022 tax year. Taxpayers who have not yet filed a 2022 tax return, should file now so they can claim their kicker credit when they file their 2023 tax return.
Who is eligible?
Taxpayers are eligible to claim the kicker if they filed a 2022 tax return and Oregon state income tax due before credits. Even taxpayers who don't have a filing obligation for 2023, still must file a 2023 tax return to claim their credit. The kicker is based on Oregon income tax paid in 2022, not federal income tax paid.
Who is not eligible?
Taxpayers who have not filed a 2022 Oregon income tax return or did not have income tax due for 2022 are not eligible to receive a kicker. The same is true for filers who didn’t complete the filing process last year because they failed to respond to letters from the department seeking more information.
How is the kicker calculated?
To calculate the amount of their credit, taxpayers can multiply their 2022 tax liability before any credits—line 22 on the 2022 Form OR-40—by 44.28 percent. This percentage is determined and certified by Oregon Office of Economic Analysis. Taxpayers who claimed a credit for tax paid to another state would need to subtract the credit amount from their liability before calculating the credit.
Taxpayers whose 2022 Oregon income tax owed was adjusted by the department when they filed last year, should use the adjusted amount of tax when calculating their kicker.
Taxpayers should not guess at their kicker amount. They can determine the amount of their kicker using the What’s My Kicker? Tool available on Revenue Online. To use the tool, taxpayers will need to enter their name, Social Security Number, and filing status for 2022 and 2023.
What form should taxpayers use?
Residency status determines what form taxpayers should use. More information is available on the What form do I use page of the agency’s website.
The 2023 Oregon personal income tax return instructions include detailed information on how to claim the credit on Form OR-40 for full-year Oregon residents, Form OR-40-P for part-year residents, and Form OR-40-N for nonresidents. Composite and fiduciary-income tax return filers are also eligible.
Taxpayers should keep in mind that the state may use all or part of their kicker to pay any state debt they owe, such as tax due for other years, child support, court fines, or school loans.
Taxpayers can donate their kicker with a checkbox on their tax return to the Oregon State School Fund for K-12 public education, but they must donate the entire amount. The donation is permanent and cannot be taken back.
Taxpayers also have the option of donating part or all of their refund to any or all of the 29 charities approved by the Charitable Checkoff Commission. Taxpayers use Form OR-DONATE to designate any amount or all of their refund to donate to charity.
Free tax preparation services are available for both federal and Oregon tax returns. Some software companies offer free software use and e-filing for eligible taxpayers. Visit the Department of Revenue website to take advantage of the software and free offers and get more information about free tax preparation services .
For more information, go to the Oregon surplus “kicker” credit page of the Department of Revenue website.
Visit www.oregon.gov/dor to get tax forms, check the status of your refund, or make tax payments; call 800-356-4222 toll-free from an Oregon prefix (English or Spanish); 503-378-4988 in Salem and outside Oregon; or email questions.dor@oregon.gov.
Source: Oregon Department of Revenue