Businesses

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​About the ta​x

On May 16, 2019, Governor Kate Brown signed House Bill 3427 into law.

The legislation accomplishes the following:

• Establishes a "Fund for Student Success" that is separate and distinct from the state's general fund
  
• Adopts a new Corporate Activi​ty Tax (CAT) imposed on all types of business entities
  

The CAT is in addition to the state's current corporate income tax. Revenue from the CAT will be transferred to the Fund for Student Success and will be used for education spending. 

The CAT is imposed on businesses for the privilege of doing business in this state. It is measured on a business's commercial activity, which is the total amount a business realizes from transactions and activity​ in Oregon. Certain items are excluded from the definition of commercial activity and, therefore, will not be subject to the CAT. In addition, Oregon's CAT allows a 35 percent subtraction for certain business expenses.​

The CAT is applied to taxable Oregon commercial activity in excess of $1 million. The tax is computed as $250 plus 0.57 percent of taxable Oregon commercial activity of more than $1 million. Only taxpayers with more than $1 million of taxable Oregon commercial activity will have a payment obligation.

​​Frequently asked questions​​​

Basic information on the Corporate Activity Tax​​ ​

CAT training materials

A variety of resources for business taxpayers and tax professionals are available on the new CAT training materials​ page. The resources include PowerPoint presentations on registration and making payments. The PowerPoint presentation used in the October live Zoom training sessions, along with the questions emailed by participants during the live training sessions and answers from the CAT policy staff. The latest addition are 12 short subject-specific training videos to help taxpayers better understand key elements of the CAT.

Taxpayers with general questions about the CAT can email cat.help.dor@oregon.gov or call 503-945-8005.

​​Subscribe to the CAT mailing list

If you would like to sign up for additional information as it becomes available, please subscribe to our mailing list.​ You can also download Publication OR-CAT-BRO​ for additional information.​

Quick li​nks

• Penalties and Interest​
  
• ​Summary of S​B 164​​
  
• Summary of changes in HB ​4202​​
  
• ORS ​317A​
  
• Forms and publications​
  
• CAT registration training​​​
  
• CAT payment training​​​
  

Estimated payments

For tax years 2021 and on, a taxpayer expecting $5,000 or more of CAT liability must make estimated payments. A taxpayer expecting less than $5,000 for tax year 2021 and on will not be required to make estimated payments but must still file an annual return, if required otherwise, and pay the CAT.

Estimated payments, which can be calculated using the estimated payments worksheet included in the CAT return instructions, are due for the previous quarter on or before the last day of the 4^th, 7^th, and 10^th months of the tax year, and on the last day of the first month immediately following the end of the tax year.  
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Make​ a payment

Administrative rules