A more than $463 million tax surplus was confirmed by the Office of Economic Analysis (OEA) earlier this month, triggering a tax surplus credit, or "kicker," for the 2016 tax year.
The surplus will be returned to taxpayers through a credit on their 2017 state personal income tax returns filed in 2018. There won't be any kicker checks issued as there were in the past.
To calculate the amount of your credit, multiply your 2016 tax liability before any credits--line 24 on the 2016 Form OR-40--by 5.6 percent. This percentage is determined and certified by OEA. Taxpayers who claimed a credit for tax paid to another state may add the credit amount to their liability before calculating the credit.
You're eligible to claim the kicker if you filed a 2016 tax return and had tax due before credits. Even if you don't have a filing obligation for 2017, you still have to file a 2017 tax return to claim your credit. There will be detailed information on how to claim your credit in the 2017 Oregon personal income tax return instructions: 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.
Keep in mind that the state may use all or part of your kicker to pay any state debt you owe, such as tax due for other years, child support, court fines, or school loans.
A What's My Kicker? calculator will be active on Revenue's website for personal income tax filers when filing season opens in January. To calculate your kicker, you'll enter your name, Social Security number, and filing status for 2016 and 2017.
You can visit www.oregon.gov/dor to get forms, check the status of your refund, or make payments. You can call (503) 378-4988 or (800) 356-4222 (toll-free) or email questions.dor@oregon.gov for additional assistance. For TTY for hearing or speech impaired, call (800) 886-7204.