Personal Income Tax division
October 31, 2025 Meeting Questions and Answers
A couple of the questions, for example, “With the passage of the federal One Big Beautiful Bill, will it have an effect on Oregon's PTE-E program," and another one of, “Can you share the results of the Voluntary Self-identification of Race and Ethnicity program," were discussed during their own segments of the presentation. The remaining questions were answered live during the presentation and are captured here:
As
we all know, the department use to issue paper Form 1099s but moved to
electronic copies several years ago. With today’s criminal activities, such as
the recent email scam that was using the department’s name, we are always
looking for better ways to secure taxpayer information, and we also want
taxpayers to know if we are sending them information. Having electronic Form 1099s
isn’t as convenient as it was when it was paper, but it offers better
protection for our customers.
The
kicker percentage information is released during the economic forecast
presentations to the legislature. They do not release that information to us
early. The next forecast is scheduled for November 19, 2025, and can be watched
online by going to the Oregon Legislative Information System, also known as
OLIS.
We know this was asked of one of our disclosure presenters several meetings ago. We reached out to our Internal Controls Office, which continues to encourage the use of the department's authorization forms. However, in certain instances such as this, the preparer may be able to talk us with implied consent under Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) 305.193 and Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR) 150-305-0120.
You might want to consider if you are using implied consent, such as whether this is most likely a one-call situation, or possibly multiple contacts. Is this a rush, or do you have time to send a form? Keep in mind that staff has discretion to determine if enough information has been provided to warrant implied consent, with some staff requiring much more information. We want to help resolve issues, but also want to secure taxpayer data, and face heavy fines and possible jail time for improper disclosure. Our rule has quite a few examples of instances where implied consent may be granted.
ORS 316.690 addresses foreign income taxes, and subsection 2(a) allows for a $3,000 foreign income tax subtraction unless limited by ORS 316.695(3), which is the phaseout amounts. The example in the question is in excess of the phaseout amount, so the taxpayers would not be able to deduct the federal or foreign tax paid.
Payroll
October 31, 2025 Meeting Questions and Answers
Thank you to the attendees of the Tax Professional Liaison meeting who submitted questions during the presentation. The following questions and answers were asked during the presentation.
Issues
with TriMet and Lane Transit Tax (LTD) are not limited to QuickBooks. We have also
seen taxpayers encounter errors while using other payroll programs. A large
contributor to the errors seems to be the taxpayers’ lack of understanding of
the tax programs.
TriMet
and LTD tax is based on where the work is being done. Depending on the business
location, they might need to keep track of hours worked inside and outside of
each district. For example: a business in Portland hired a Woodburn-based
company to install cabinets. The Woodburn-based business has a total of 15
hours for this job. Ten hours of the labor are at the Woodburn shop making and
preparing the cabinets for installation. The business has five hours of labor
onsite at the customer’s business in Portland. The five hours labor in Portland
is subject to TriMet. For questions regarding TriMet or LTD, please contact
Chris Cox at chris.cox@oregon.gov or 503-509-5188.
The Form W-2 given to the employees should report the
STT withheld and paid by the employer in box 14. The total of the amount withheld for STT from
all W-2s should equal the total reported to the department for that year. When
there is a difference, an amended form should be filed.
Please see pages five and six of the Paid Leave Oregon handbook for examples of how to calculate employer size for the year. For complicated situations like your example, we recommend the business or authorized person contact the Oregon Employment Department (OED) at 503-947-1488, after all Form OQs have been submitted for the previous year, to verify before the first quarter tax is due, to make sure the business doesn't have to pay the employer portion.
In general, a Business Change in Status Form might be worked separately and the business might have the revenue side closed quicker than the employment side, or vice versa. It depends on who gets to the form first. Both agencies will complete the necessary work in their system, but it is not always at the same time.
As long as you have those client's payroll accounts linked to your Revenue Online account through third-party access. You will need access to their withholding reconciliation (WR) account to file iWire.
Speaking on behalf of the department, we send a lot of letters that are often triggered by a specific account action. We also share communications through Revenews and other department bulletins, so please sign up if you have not already. If you have specific examples of changes not being communicated, please send them to Chris Cox at chris.cox@dor.oregon.gov.
Yes, as long as there is nothing subject to payroll. Corporate officer wages and draws are subject to payroll tax withholding (Oregon Revised Statutes 316.167).