About payroll taxes
All employers with paid employees working in Oregon must register for a business identification number (BIN) to report and pay Oregon payroll taxes. Corporations without employees must also register to report compensation paid to corporate officers.
Oregon uses a Combined Payroll Tax Reporting System to report all payroll taxes together. The BIN serves as the employer's account number when reporting payroll taxes. Online BIN registrations take 30 business days to complete. BIN registrations using the Paper Combined Employer’s Registration form take 60 business days to complete.
Before you hire
Register online for a BIN using the Revenue Online or by submitting a Combined Employer's Registration form. You must register before issuing any paychecks.
For additional help, please see our videos on How to get a BIN on Revenue Online and How to submit a payroll tax contact change in Revenue Online.
What is Oregon income tax withholding?
By law, as an employer you must withhold a portion of your employees' wages based on their allowances and send the funds to the Department of Revenue (DOR). Oregon income tax withholding refers to the amount of Oregon personal income taxes that are withheld from the employees' paychecks to cover the anticipated Oregon tax liability for the year.
Due dates
Oregon withholding taxes are due the same time as your federal taxes. Unemployment, transit taxes, and the Workers' Benefit Fund assessment payments are due the last day of the month following the end of the calendar quarter. Form OQ quarterly reports are due:
- First quarter, due April 30
- Second quarter, due July 31
- Third quarter, due October 31
- Fourth quarter, due January 31
Revenue Online
Revenue Online, DOR's self-service site, is available for combined payroll taxpayers. Revenue Online provides convenient, secure access to tools for managing your tax account and it's free!
With Revenue Online you can:
- Register for a BIN
- View your tax account
- Make certain payments by selecting "Make an OTC-V Payment"
- View and print letters from DOR
- Send DOR secure messages
- File certain returns
- Update your payroll contact information
- Check your DOR account balance and more!
Use this Revenue Online document for more information to help guide you.
Filing and forms
Choose a quarterly report filing method:
Visit the Oregon
Employment Department to order Oregon combined tax forms for reporting and payment of withholding taxes or contact us at 503-947-1488.
Frances Online* has replaced the Oregon Payroll Reporting System (OPRS) and the Employer Account Access (EAA) portal, beginning with the third quarter filing in 2022. The new system will support combined payroll reporting including Unemployment Insurance tax, Workers' Benefit Fund (WBF), State Withholding Tax, Lane and TriMet Transit Taxes, and beginning in the first quarter of 2023, Statewide Transit Tax (STT) and Paid Leave Oregon contributions.
To learn more, visit
www.oregon.gov/employ/businesses and click on the “Modernization" link at the top of the page. Subscribe for updates about the project.
*The new system is named in honor of Frances Perkins, the U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933 – 1945 and the first woman to serve in a Presidential cabinet.
Make a payment
If you pay your federal taxes electronically, you must also pay your Oregon combined payroll taxes electronically.
You can choose to pay Oregon tax electronically even if you don't meet the federal requirements. Visit our
payments webpage for electronic options. Include a Form OTC when making payments by check or money order.
Year-end reconciliation and iWire information
You must file an Oregon Annual Withholding Reconciliation Report, Form WR, even if you submit your W-2 information electronically. Form WR is due January 31 in the year after the tax year. If you stop doing business during the year, the report is due within 30 days of your final payroll. You can file this form electronically through
Revenue Online.
For additional help filing your Withholding Reconciliation Report on Revenue Online, go to our Revenue Online Help page or view our How to File a Withholding Reconciliation Return on Revenue Online video. For additional help on how to file W-2s and 1099s on Revenue Online, see our video tutorial for this process.
Update your business information
Make updates to addresses and phone numbers or change offsite payroll services using Revenue Online or the Business Change in Status form. Updates made to the Department of Revenue (DOR) are shared with the Employment Department (OED) and the Department of Consumer Business Services (DCBS); however, these changes are not shared with the Secretary of State's Oregon Business Registry nor are the changes made to your registry shared with DOR.
Changing your contact information with DOR does not update your contact information with other agencies. Please update your contact information with other agencies directly.
Change your business structure
If your business has changed its legal structure, tax structure, or its owner, a new BIN will usually be required. You can apply for the BIN using Revenue Online or by submitting a Combined Employer's Registration form. You may also want to complete a
Business Change in Status form to ensure that the previous BIN is closed properly.
A new BIN is not required for the following changes:
- Changing between an LLC taxed as a partnership and an LLC taxed as a corporation
- Changing between a C Corp and an S Corp
- Changing between a non-profit to a 501(c)3 non-profit
- Changing owners/officers of entities taxed as corporations
- Changing members of multi-member LLCs as long as they continue to be muti-member LLCs after the change.
In addition to needing a new BIN for entity changes, OED may require that you obtain a new BIN if you sell a substantial portion of your business but still continue to operate your buinsess.
Contact the DCBS if the structure change affects your workers' compensation insurance or Workers' Benefit Fund assessment.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, there is no charge for getting an Oregon BIN.
Corporation officers are considered employees.
Payments for their services are subject to withholding (S corporation or C corporation).
True dividends, usually paid no more than once a year, aren’t subject to
withholding.
Yes. Wages paid for work performed by family members
are subject to withholding. This includes your spouse, parent, siblings, and
children under the age of 18.
Nonresident wages for work performed in Oregon are
subject to withholding, except when these earnings for the year will be less
than their standard deduction amount for their filing status. Nonresidents with
wages greater than their standard deduction amount must file an Oregon
nonresident return.
Nonresident employees with extra Oregon income may request withholding even if
they earn less than their standard deduction.
No. A BIN is for payroll and withholding purposes only. If you need to be in tax compliance to obtain a specific license, permit, or contract, a BIN will be required to be in compliance since you will have to do payroll if you have or will have employees.
Anytime you change your business structure, you must complete a new Combined Employer's Registration form and send it to the Oregon Employment Department as a new BIN may be required.
No. You only need one BIN to report and pay all
payroll tax programs. These include withholding tax, unemployment tax, Workers
Benefit Fund, TriMet transit tax, and Lane transit tax.
Only if your business is structured like a corporation. Owners and officers of corporations, which includes LLCs taxed as corporations and non-profits, are considered employees when receiving compensation for the services they perform on behalf of the corporation. If your business is not structured like a corporation (for example, a sole proprietorship or a partnership) then the income you receive from the business is reported and paid on your personal income taxes.
In order to update and reopen an old BIN, a new payroll tax registration is required. You can either complete the registration online or by using the Combined Employer’s Registration form. Some old BINs cannot be reused, so the registration may be used to create a new BIN instead.
A BIN is for withholding and payroll purposes only. If you don’t have employees, then an active BIN is not required for your business to operate. A BIN is not the same thing as a registry number, which is issued by the Secretary of State.
You’ll receive a registration notice, including your
Oregon BIN, once the business is registered.
Yes, Form OR-W-4 is for Oregon withholding only. Federal Form W-4 is for federal withholding.
No. Payments are due quarterly when you file your
quarterly payroll tax return (Form OQ).
Employers who file IRS Form 944 may ask to be considered for annual Oregon
withholding deposits. Send us a written request with a copy of your IRS
notification.
No. Quarterly Statewide Transit Tax returns are now filed on the updated Form OQ (Quarterly Employer Tax Report) using Frances Online or using paper returns. Quarterly Statewide Transit Tax returns will no longer be processed by the Department of Revenue and may result in assessed penalties and interest if Statewide Transit Tax is not reported correctly on the new Form OQ.
No. The information is good for the remaining quarters
in the current calendar year. If an employee is claiming “Exempt,” a new W-4
should be filed by February of the new year.
Employers who must file Statewide Transit Tax on a quarterly basis will now file with the new Form OQ (Quarterly Employer Tax Report) and Form 132 (Oregon Employee Detail Report), using Frances Online for electronic filing or using paper returns, for the first quarter of 2023 and beyond. Annual Statewide Transit Tax taxpayers (e.g., agricultural employers) will continue filing the annual Statewide Transit Tax (Form STT-A) return and STT Employee Detail Report (Form STT-2) with the Department of Revenue using Revenue Online or paper returns.
Yes. As long as your account remains active, you must submit a report
even if you have no payroll. You can also file a “no payroll report” with the
Employment Department using their automated phone system.
If you pay for commercial annuities, employer-deferred compensation plans, or retirement plans, you must withhold tax, unless the employee or payee chooses to have no withholding.
The employee or payee must provide a filed federal Form W-4P or Form OR-W-4 for you to determine the withholding amount, even if they choose no withholding. Withhold as if the payments were wages. You must withhold $10 or more per employee or payee.
Oregon withholding isn't required for a rollover from one qualifying plan to another. Oregon doesn't follow the federal backup withholding rules for pension and annuities distributions.
You are required to use a different BIN than your payroll account BIN, because these are not payroll wages. You will need to issue 1099s to employees and payees at the end of the year and file 1099s electronically through iWire.
After filing taxes on the Form OQ using Frances Online, employers will have the option of paying reported employer taxes. By clicking the button “Make a Payment with DOR," employers will be taken to the Department of Revenue's payment portal. While in the payment portal, employers provide the amounts due for each subject tax program and remit a payment via ACH. If employers want to pay using a credit card, employers will need to log in to their Revenue Online account. To register for a Revenue Online account, visit this page for more information.
You can either:
Either fax or mail it to the Employment Department.
Fax: (503) 947-1528
Mail: 875 Union St NE Rm 107, Salem OR 97311
Allow three weeks for processing.
If it's been more than a year since you last reported payroll taxes, you must complete a new Combined Employer's Registration and send it to the Oregon Employment Department. If it's been less than a year, you can call us at (503) 945-8091 to have your account reopened.
It isn't required, but we do ask employers to register and withhold taxes as a convenience to the employee.
Paid Leave Oregon contributions are being reported on an updated Form OQ (Quarterly Employer Tax Report) and Form 132 (Oregon Employee Detail Report) starting with the first quarter of 2023. Employers will use Frances Online, which replaced the Oregon Payroll Reporting System (OPRS) in 2022.
You must withhold Oregon tax from all wages paid to
employees who are Oregon residents. This includes wages earned outside of
Oregon. Employers may not have to withhold Oregon tax if they can show the
employee will receive wages of $300 or less for the calendar year.