About the kicker
The Oregon
surplus, also known as the “kicker,” is
a way for
the state to return
excess revenue
to taxpayers.
The kicker
may be claimed on
the return for an
odd-numbered year when a revenue surplus has been
determined.
The kicker
isn’t available on the return for an even-numbered year.
The kicker on your 2025 personal income tax return will be 9.863 percent of your 2024 tax liability.
Use our What’s My Kicker? calculator to find your kicker amount. You’ll need your Social Security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, the filing status you used on your 2024 return, and the filing status you expect to use on your 2025 return.
Frequently asked questions
Your kicker amount is based on your tax liability for the prior year. Your tax liability is your Oregon income tax before any credits, withholding, or payments, other than a credit for income taxes paid to another state on mutually taxed income.
To be eligible for a kicker on your 2025 Oregon return, you must: 1. File your 2024 Oregon return. 2. Have an Oregon tax liability for 2024. 3. File a 2025 Oregon return, even if you don't otherwise have a filing requirement.
To calculate your kicker amount, multiply your 2024 tax liability by the kicker percentage. For 2025, the kicker percentage is 9.863 percent (0.09863). The instructions for your Oregon return have worksheets you can use if you need help, especially if your filing status on your 2025 return will be different from the filing status on your 2024 return.
No. Any taxpayer who pays personal income tax may be able to claim a kicker. This includes individuals, trusts, estates, and nonresident individuals who join in a composite return filed on their behalf by a pass-through entity.
You may request that we separate your joint refund and issue your share to you. However, the entire refund will be split according to your share of income on your return for the kicker year, not just the kicker portion. See Oregon Administrative Rule 150-314-0254 and our “What happens after I file?” webpage for details.
If the person’s final return was filed for that year and they had a tax liability, a return can be filed to claim the kicker on their behalf. If the deceased person was married, their surviving spouse can claim the entire kicker; otherwise, the deceased person’s representative may file the return to claim the kicker.
If a person who is eligible for a kicker passes away during the kicker year, the kicker may be claimed on the person’s final return or on a joint return filed by a surviving spouse.
If you elected to join in a composite return filed by the entity for the 2024 tax year, your kicker should be claimed on the composite return that the entity files for the 2025 tax year. If you’re no longer an owner of the entity, or if you won’t be joining the composite return for the kicker year, the entity can still claim the kicker on your behalf by including you on the composite return for that purpose.
You won’t be eligible for a kicker until after you file your 2024 Oregon return. If you file your 2024 return after filing your 2025 return, you'll have to wait for us to determine your kicker once your 2024 return has been processed.
If you were married and filed a joint return with your spouse for 2024, but you and your spouse were separated or divorced during 2025, your separate kicker amount will be based on your share of Oregon income after additions and subtractions. If you were unmarried (or married to a different spouse) during 2024, but you were married during 2025 and you'll be filing a joint return with your spouse, you and your spouse will combine your separate kicker amounts on your joint return. See the instructions for your Oregon return for details and helpful worksheets.
Yes. You can elect to donate your kicker to the Oregon State School Fund for K-12 public education. You must check a box on the return and donate the entire amount. If you change your mind, you must amend your return by the filing deadline, including extensions. Your election to donate the kicker can’t be changed once the return filing deadline has passed.
You can also donate your kicker or other tax refund to one or more of the charities approved by the Charitable Checkoff Commission when you file your return. Use Schedule OR-DONATE to contribute any amount of your refund to charity.
If there is a corporate kicker, it all goes to K-12 public education funding.
No, unless you forget to claim it when you file your return; you’ll receive a check for your kicker only if you didn’t provide direct deposit information for a refund on the return.
Possibly, but only on your federal return. Oregon doesn't tax your kicker. The kicker is treated like a state income tax refund. In general, a state income tax refund may be included in your federal income for the year of the refund if you claimed an itemized deduction for state income taxes on a past federal return. If you itemize deductions on your 2025 federal return and are credited with a kicker on your 2025 Oregon return, the department will issue Form 1099-G for tax year 2026 (or the year you file your 2025 Oregon return, if later) that includes the total amount of the kicker, even if you donate it to the State School Fund or it's used to pay your tax or other debt.
The instructions for your federal return will help you figure out whether you need to include any of the kicker in your income. If you include it in your federal income, you’ll subtract it on your Oregon return. You can access your Form 1099-G using Revenue Online.
Yes, you may claim the kicker if you had a tax liability on your 2024 Oregon return, but you must file an Oregon return for the kicker year even if you no longer have income that Oregon can tax.
Oregon may use all or part of your refund to pay
outstanding state debt. Some examples include: child support, court fines,
previous year’s tax debt, school loans.
History of the kicker
The 1979 Oregon Legislative Assembly passed the "Two percent kicker" law as a way to control state spending. The law requires the state to
compare its revenue estimate (forecast) for each biennium (the two-year period starting on July 1 of each odd-numbered year) to the amount actually received during that biennium. After the biennium ends, if
actual revenue exceeds the forecast amount by more than
2 percent, the revenue surplus is refunded to taxpayers or used to fund Oregon K-12 schools.
When the kicker first started, it was credited to taxpayers as a percentage of their tax after all credits on their return for the kicker year. In the mid-1990s, this refund mechanism was changed to a check that was mailed out in December. The amount was based on tax before credits on the return for the prior year.
In 1999, when the kicker was in danger of being repealed, a bill was passed that would add the kicker law to the Constitution of Oregon. The constitutional amendment was approved by voters in 2000. Taxpayers were also given the option of donating their kicker to the State School Fund instead of receiving it.
In 2011, the kicker mechanism was changed back to an amount credited to taxpayers on the return for the kicker year, with the amount based on the prior year’s tax. This is the current mechanism.
The table below shows the kickers that have occurred since the law was first enacted.