title 29 revenue and taxation - oregonlegislature.gov

TITLE 29

REVENUE AND TAXATION

Chapter 305. Administration of Revenue and Tax Laws; Appeals306. Property Taxation Generally307. Property Subject to Taxation; Exemptions308. Assessment of Property for Taxation

308A. Land Special Assessments309. Board of Property Tax Appeals; Ratio Studies310. Property Tax Rates and Amounts; Tax Limitations; Tax Reduction

Programs311. Collection of Property Taxes312. Foreclosure of Property Tax Liens314. Taxes Imposed Upon or Measured by Net Income315. Personal and Corporate Income or Excise Tax Credits316. Personal Income Tax317. Corporation Excise Tax318. Corporation Income Tax319. Motor Vehicle and Aircraft Fuel Taxes320. Miscellaneous Taxes321. Timber and Forestland Taxation323. Cigarettes and Tobacco Products324. Oil and Gas Tax

Chapter 305

2011 EDITION

Administration of Revenue and Tax Laws; Appeals

DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE

(Organization)305.005 Definitions305.015 Policy305.025 Department of Revenue; organization;

planning; seal305.035 Director of Department of Revenue; ap-

pointment; confirmation; compensationand expenses; bond

305.045 Duties of director305.057 Delegation of authority305.060 Offices of department; equipment and

supplies305.063 Department of Revenue Administration

Account; use; limitation305.065 Deputy director; appointment; qualifica-

tions305.075 Employees; appointment; duties; compen-

sation and expenses305.078 Authority of Department of Revenue to

require fingerprints305.085 Charges for maps, documents or publica-

tions

(Tax Administration)305.100 Rules; forms305.102 Local budget and property tax law; com-

pliance with constitutional limit; rules305.105 Declaratory rulings by department; rules305.110 Duty to construe tax laws; instruction of

officers acting under tax laws305.120 Enforcement of tax laws305.125 Application of administrative rules305.130 Department as party to actions involving

property subject to certain tax liens;complaint and summons

305.140 Power to release real property from cer-tain tax liens

305.145 When interest required to be waived;power to waive, reduce or compromisesmall tax balance or penalty and interest;rules

305.150 Closing agreements305.155 Cancellation of uncollectible tax; filing

order; releasing liens305.157 Extending statutory periods of limitation305.160 Reports from public officers

Title 29 (2011 Edition)


305.170 Complaints concerning tax laws; reportsand recommendations to Legislative As-sembly

305.180 Effect of tax warrant for purposes of out-of-state collection

305.182 Filing of warrants for unpaid taxes; re-lease, cancellation and satisfaction

305.184 Certificate of outstanding warrants; fee;rules

305.190 Subpoenaing and examining witnesses,books and papers; application to tax courtfor disobeyance of subpoena

305.192 Disclosure of books and papers relating toappraisal or assessment of industrialproperty

305.193 Disclosure of tax information to desig-nated persons; rules

305.195 Written interrogatories; contents; timeand manner of service; answer; objection;order for answer; demand for informationby taxpayer; order for information

305.200 Witness fees and mileage305.215 Conflicting claims for credit for depend-

ent; notice procedure; appeal; evidence aspublic record

305.217 When deduction for amounts paid aswages or remuneration permitted

305.220 Interest on deficiency, delinquency or re-funds; adjustments in rates; rules; com-putation

305.222 Determination of interest rate305.225 Request of assistance by law enforcement

agency; disclosure of tax records305.228 Penalty for second dishonored payment

of taxes; waiver305.229 When penalties not imposed; rules

(Representation of Taxpayer)305.230 Qualifications of persons representing

taxpayer; procedure for designating rep-resentative; rules

305.242 Representation before department ormagistrate of designated partnership taxmatters; designated tax partner

305.245 Representation before tax court magis-trate by officer or employee of county ordepartment

305.260 Representation before department ormagistrate by former department person-nel prohibited

(Tax Deficiencies; Notice; Appeals)305.263 Order requiring filing report or return;

show cause; contempt; appeal305.265 Deficiency notice; payment of deficiency;

assessment; appeal; interest; rules305.267 Extension of time to issue notice of defi-

ciency or assessment305.270 Refund of excess tax paid; claim proce-

dure305.271 Refund transfer or assignment prohibited;

exception305.275 Persons who may appeal due to acts or

omissions305.280 Time for filing appeals; denial of appeal305.285 Correction of tax and assessment rolls for

subsequent tax years during pendency ofappeal

305.286 Deferred billing credit in property tax ap-peals; conditions; procedure; interest

305.287 Determination of real market value ofproperty tax account or components

305.288 Valuation changes for residential propertysubstantial value error or for good andsufficient cause

305.290 Extension of time for making assessmentdue to bankruptcy

305.295 Cancellation of tax, penalty or interest;rules

305.305 Procedure where deficiency based on fed-eral or other state audit report; effect ofappeal; interest suspension

305.330 Tax liability of reorganized business entity305.375 Disposition of penalties; payment of re-

funds

(License Lists)305.380 Definitions for ORS 305.385305.385 Agencies to supply licensee and contrac-

tor lists; contents; effect of departmentdetermination on taxpayer status of li-censee or contractor; rules(Temporary provisions relating to pilotproject requiring tax compliance as con-dition of occupational and professional li-censing are compiled as notes followingORS 305.385)

SUBPOENAS RELATING TO INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY

305.390 Subpoenas of records containing informa-tion on industrial plant for use to deter-mine value of different industrial plant

305.392 Process for limiting scope of third-partysubpoena

305.394 When industrial plant owner may choosenot to produce information sought bysubpoena

305.396 Protection of confidentiality of industrialproperty information obtained by sub-poena

305.398 Disclosure and use of industrial propertyconfidential information obtained bythird-party subpoena

305.400 Payment of costs of subpoena compliance;determination of costs

APPEALS OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTYOR PLANTS

305.403 Appeal of value of principal or secondaryindustrial property in tax court

OREGON TAX COURT(General)

305.404 Oregon Tax Court; definitions; usage305.405 Oregon Tax Court; creation; jurisdiction305.410 Authority of court in tax cases within its

jurisdiction; concurrent jurisdiction; ex-clusive jurisdiction in certain cases

305.412 Jurisdiction to determine value305.415 Service of papers and process305.418 When mailed complaint considered to be

filed305.419 Tax, penalty and interest payable before

appeal; how determined; waiver; refund305.420 Issuance of subpoenas; administration of

oaths; depositions


ADMINISTRATION; APPEALS

305.422 Waiver of penalty for failure to timely fileproperty return

305.425 Proceedings to be without jury and denovo; issues reviewable; rules of proce-dure

305.427 Burden of proof in tax court proceedings305.430 Hearings to be open to public; report of

proceedings; exception; confidential infor-mation

305.437 Damages for frivolous or groundless ap-peal or appeal to delay

305.440 Finality of unappealed decision of taxcourt; effect of appeal to Supreme Court

305.445 Appeals to Supreme Court; reviewing au-thority and action on appeal

305.447 Recovery by taxpayer of certain costs andexpenses upon appeal to Supreme Court

305.450 Publication of tax court decisions305.452 Election and term of judge; vacancy; rec-

ommendation of appointees to fill vacancy305.455 Qualifications of judge; inapplicability of

disqualification-for-prejudice provision305.460 Salary, expenses, disability and retirement

of judge and magistrates305.470 Presiding judge; functions305.475 Offices of tax court; location of hearings305.480 State Court Administrator as administra-

tor and clerk; other personnel; expenses;limitation on activities of personnel

305.485 Records

(Industrial Property Appeals)305.487 Findings and policy305.489 Considerations in adopting rules

(Fees)305.490 Filing fees; recovery of certain costs and

disbursements; additional recovery forcertain taxpayers; disposition of receipts

305.492 Fees and expenses of witnesses305.493 Fees for transcripts or copies of records

(Representation)305.494 When shareholder may represent corpo-

ration in tax court proceedings

(Magistrate Division)305.498 Magistrates; appointment; qualifications;

oaths; duties; dismissal; appointment ofpresiding magistrate

305.501 Appeals to tax court to be heard by mag-istrate division; exception; mediation;conduct of hearings; decisions; appeal denovo to tax court judge

305.505 Magistrate division records; statistical re-ports

305.525 Notice to taxpayer of right to appeal

(Appeals Procedure; Effect of Pendency of Appeal)

305.560 Appeals procedure generally; procedurewhen taxpayer is not appellant; interven-tion

305.565 Stay of collection of taxes, interest andpenalties pending appeal; exception; bond

305.570 Standing to appeal to regular division oftax court; perfection of appeal

305.575 Authority of tax court to determine defi-ciency

(Constitutional Limits Upon Property Taxes; Effects; Determination)

305.580 Exclusive remedies for certain determi-nations; priority of petitions

305.583 Interested taxpayer petitions for certaindeterminations; petition contents; mannerand time for filing; classification noticerequirements; bond proceed use noticerequirements

305.585 Local government petitions concerningtaxes of another local government under1990 Measure 5; manner and time for filing

305.586 Legislative findings; policy on remediesfor misspent bond proceeds

305.587 Tax court findings; orders; refunds; bondmeasure construction; other relief

305.589 Judicial declarations; petition by localgovernment; notice; intervention; appeal;remedies; costs

305.591 Court determination that 1990 Measure 5tax limit is inapplicable; collection of tax;appeal; stay denied

INTERGOVERNMENTAL TAXRELATIONS

(Federal and Other States)305.605 Application of tax laws within federal

areas in state305.610 Reciprocal recognition of tax liability; ac-

tions in other states for Oregon taxes305.612 Reciprocal offset of tax refunds in pay-

ment of liquidated debt or certainamounts payable; rules

305.615 Apportionment of moneys received fromUnited States in lieu of property taxes

(Local)305.620 Collection and distribution of local taxes

on income and sales; costs; court reviewof determinations and orders; appeals

305.625 State and political subdivisions are em-ployers for purpose of withholding city orcounty income tax

305.630 Compliance with city or county incometax ordinance required

305.635 Rate of withholding to be designated bycity or county; forms

305.640 Discrimination among employers prohib-ited

305.645 Department of Revenue to provide ser-vices to political subdivisions

MULTISTATE TAX COMPACT305.655 Multistate Tax Compact305.660 Director of department to represent state;

alternate305.665 Appointment of consultants from political

subdivisions imposing taxes having multi-state impact

305.675 Application of compact provisions relatingto interstate audits

305.676 Mediation and arbitration laws not appli-cable to Multistate Tax Commission proc-esses

305.685 Multistate Tax Commission Revolving Ac-count



CHARITABLE CHECKOFF PROGRAM305.690 Definitions for ORS 305.690 to 305.753305.695 Oregon Charitable Checkoff Commission;

qualifications; term; compensation andexpenses

305.700 Officers; meetings; quorum; director asnonvoting member

305.705 Duties of chairperson305.710 Notice of availability of space in tax re-

turn for checkoffs; determination of enti-ties eligible for checkoff

305.715 Determination of eligibility; certificationof entities to be listed on tax return

305.720 Qualification for entity for contributionsby checkoff

305.723 Eligibility roster305.725 Application of entity305.727 Instruction listing; qualifications305.730 Financial report of entity305.735 Effect of qualification; notice if entity not

qualified305.740 Standards for continuing eligibility305.745 Inclusion of eligible entities on tax return305.747 Administrative expenses; crediting con-

tributions to entities; rules305.751 Rules305.753 State Treasurer may solicit donations to

eligible entities; department rules

CHECKOFF FOR CONTRIBUTION TOPOLITICAL PARTY

305.754 Designation of contribution to politicalparty on income tax return

305.756 Oregon Political Party Fund305.757 Payments to treasurers of political parties305.758 Payment to political party considered

contribution for purposes of campaign fi-nance regulation

305.759 Contribution to political party on incometax return not to be claimed as tax credit

REFUNDS305.760 Paying over funds to State Treasurer and

writing checks for refunds305.762 Election for direct deposit of personal in-

come tax refund305.765 Refund of taxes adjudged invalid305.770 Report of taxpayers paying invalid tax;

issuance and payment of warrants305.775 Interest on amount of refund in certain

cases305.780 Taxes due prior to year in which suit

brought

305.785 Appropriation305.790 Manner of payment of certain costs and

expenses305.792 Surplus refund donations to education305.794 Transfer to State School Fund305.796 Election to contribute refund to account

in Oregon 529 College Savings Network;rules

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS305.805 Repeal of intangibles income tax law not

to affect accrued taxes305.810 Verification of return, statement or doc-

ument filed under tax laws305.815 False return, statement or document pro-

hibited305.820 Date when writing, remittance or elec-

tronic filing deemed received by tax offi-cials

305.822 Prohibition on state or local tax onInternet access

305.823 Local government tax on telephone ser-vices prohibited

305.830 Collection of fines, penalties and forfei-tures; disbursement; cost of collection

305.840 Forms furnished by county assessors; as-sessor not liable when taxpayer fails toreceive mailed form

305.845 Remedies exclusive305.850 Use of collection agency

TAXPAYER BILL OF RIGHTS305.860 Statement of rights of taxpayers; distrib-

ution305.865 Taxpayer rights305.870 Personnel evaluation not based on

amount of taxes collected305.875 Rights of taxpayer in meeting or commu-

nication with department305.880 Waiver of interest or penalty when de-

partment misleads taxpayer305.885 Right of clear explanation305.890 Right to enter into agreement to satisfy

liability in installment payments305.895 Action against property before issuance

of warrant prohibited; prerequisites forwarrant

305.900 Short title

PENALTIES305.990 Criminal penalties305.992 Civil penalty for failure to file return for

three consecutive years


ADMINISTRATION; APPEALS 305.057

DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE(Organization)

305.005 Definitions. As used in the re-venue and tax laws of this state, unless thecontext requires otherwise:

(1) “Department” means the Departmentof Revenue.

(2) “Director” means the Director of theDepartment of Revenue. [1969 c.520 §2; 1995 c.79§105; 1995 c.650 §105]

305.010 [Formerly 306.010; repealed by 1969 c.520§49]

305.015 Policy. It is the intent of theLegislative Assembly to place in the Depart-ment of Revenue and its director the admin-istration of the revenue and tax laws of thisstate, except as specifically otherwise pro-vided in such laws. [1969 c.520 §1; 1977 c.870 §1]


305.025 Department of Revenue; or-ganization; planning; seal. (1) The Depart-ment of Revenue is established.

(2) The Department of Revenue shallconsist of administrative divisions. Each ofthe administrative divisions of the depart-ment shall be headed by an administratorwho shall be in the unclassified service un-der the State Personnel Relations Law andappointed by the Director of the Departmentof Revenue. Each administrator shall be wellqualified by technical training and experi-ence in the functions to be performed.

(3) The Director of the Department ofRevenue, from time to time, may alter oramend the organization of the department,including its administrative divisions, as thedirector deems necessary to achieve thegreatest efficiency and economy in its opera-tion.

(4) The director, acting in concert withthe chief officers of other state agenciescharged with raising revenue, shall use allreasonable means to increase efficiency andeconomy by coordinating work and sharingresources with other agencies, including butnot limited to the mutual use of field officersand field auditors. With respect to such ac-tivity the director shall cause to be prepareda report relating to the utilization and coor-dination of revenue raising functions of thestate agencies charged with such responsi-bility, including but not limited to suggestedplans for departmental or governmental re-organization in the revenue raising field.Such report shall be submitted to the Gover-nor and the Legislative Assembly when itnext convenes.

(5) The department shall have an officialseal, with the words “Department ofRevenue” and “State of Oregon” and such

other design as the director may prescribe.The seal shall be used to authenticate allpapers and proceedings requiring authentica-tion. [1969 c.520 §§3,5; 1973 c.402 §2; 1981 c.848 §1]


305.035 Director of Department of Re-venue; appointment; confirmation; com-pensation and expenses; bond. (1) TheDepartment of Revenue shall be under thesupervision of the Director of the Depart-ment of Revenue who shall be appointed fora term of four years and shall hold office atthe pleasure of the Governor. The directorshall be skilled and expert in matters of tax-ation and shall devote the entire time of thedirector to the performance of the duties im-posed upon the department.

(2) The appointment of the director issubject to confirmation by the Senate underORS 171.562 and 171.565. In case theGovernor’s choice of a director is not con-firmed, the Governor shall make another ap-pointment subject to the confirmation by theSenate as provided in this subsection.

(3) The director shall receive such salaryas may be provided by law. In addition tosalary, the director, subject to the limitationsotherwise provided by law, shall be reim-bursed for all reasonable expenses necessar-ily incurred by the director in theperformance of official duties. Before enter-ing upon the duties of office, the directorshall be bonded under ORS 291.011. [1969 c.520§4; 1985 c.565 §52; 1985 c.761 §5]


305.045 Duties of director. (1) Exceptas otherwise provided by law, the Directorof the Department of Revenue shall coordi-nate all of the activities of the Departmentof Revenue, and has the power of generalsupervision over the administration of eachdivision within the department, and the ad-ministrative head thereof, and is directly re-sponsible to the Governor therefor.

(2) The director shall provide administra-tive staff, fiscal, planning and research facil-ities and services for the agencies within thedepartment. [1969 c.520 §6; 1995 c.650 §106]



305.057 Delegation of authority. When-ever a power is granted to the Director ofthe Department of Revenue, the power maybe exercised by such officer or employeewithin the Department of Revenue as desig-nated in writing by the director. Any suchdesignation shall be filed in the office of theSecretary of State. [1969 c.520 §7; 1975 c.605 §15a]


305.060 REVENUE AND TAXATION

305.060 Offices of department; equip-ment and supplies. (1) The Department ofRevenue shall maintain its principal officesin the state capital and shall be furnishedwith suitable office quarters under ORS276.004. The department may maintain officesor conduct its business in other places in thestate in order to facilitate the discharge ofits functions.

(2) Necessary printing for the departmentshall be performed in the same manner asother state printing. All necessary officeequipment and supplies required by the de-partment shall be purchased from the appro-priation made for the salaries and thegeneral and contingent expenses of the de-partment. [Formerly 306.060; 1969 c.520 §25; 1969 c.706§64c; 1997 c.325 §1]

305.063 Department of Revenue Ad-ministration Account; use; limitation. (1)There is established in the General Fund ofthe State Treasury the Department of Re-venue Administration Account. Notwith-standing any other law, such amounts asmay be necessary to pay the administrativeexpenses of the Department of Revenue shallbe continuously credited to the Departmentof Revenue Administration Account from thebiennial appropriations, or transferred tosuch administration account from the ac-counts or funds of the divisions and otheragencies within the department. Suchamounts as may be requested quarterly bythe Director of the Department of Revenue,with the approval of the Oregon Departmentof Administrative Services, shall be creditedor transferred to the Department of RevenueAdministration Account from the biennialappropriations, accounts or funds of the divi-sions and other agencies within the depart-ment. The Department of Revenue is subjectto the allotment system provided for in ORS291.234 to 291.260.

(2) The amounts credited and transferredto the Department of Revenue Administra-tion Account shall not be greater than thetotal of any budget approved for the depart-ment by the Legislative Assembly and shallbe determined by the costs of the adminis-trative, supervisory, legal and review ser-vices provided the respective divisions andagencies within the department. All moneysappropriated, credited or transferred to theDepartment of Revenue Administration Ac-count are appropriated continuously to paythe administrative expenses of the depart-ment. [1969 c.520 §48]

305.065 Deputy director; appointment;qualifications. The Director of the Depart-ment of Revenue, with the approval of theGovernor, may designate a deputy director,to serve at the pleasure of the director, withfull authority to act for the director, but

subject to the control of the director. Thedeputy director shall be skilled and expert inmatters of taxation and shall devote the en-tire time of the deputy director to the per-formance of the duties of the deputy directorin the department. The designation of a dep-uty director shall be by written order filedwith the Secretary of State. [1969 c.520 §§8,9;1973 c.402 §3]


305.075 Employees; appointment; du-ties; compensation and expenses. (1) Sub-ject to any applicable provisions of the StatePersonnel Relations Law:

(a) The Director of the Department ofRevenue may appoint and remove such offi-cers, agents and employees as the directorconsiders necessary. Such persons shall havethe duties and powers the director from timeto time prescribes.

(b) The compensation of all such officers,agents and employees shall be fixed by thedirector.

(2) Subject to and in the manner other-wise provided by law, all officers, agents andemployees of the Department of Revenueshall be allowed such reasonable and neces-sary traveling and other expenses as may beincurred in the performance of their duties.[1969 c.520 §11; 1985 c.761 §6]

305.078 Authority of Department ofRevenue to require fingerprints. For thepurpose of requesting a state or nationwidecriminal records check under ORS 181.534,the Department of Revenue may require thefingerprints of a person who:

(1)(a) Is employed or applying for em-ployment by the department; or

(b) Provides services or seeks to provideservices to the department as a contractoror volunteer; and

(2) Is, or will be, working or providingservices in a position:

(a) In which the person is providing in-formation technology services and has con-trol over, or access to, informationtechnology systems that would allow theperson to harm the information technologysystems or the information contained in thesystems;

(b) In which the person has access to in-formation, the disclosure of which is prohib-ited by state or federal laws, rules orregulations or information that is defined asconfidential under state or federal laws, rulesor regulations;

(c) That has payroll functions or inwhich the person has responsibility for re-ceiving, receipting or depositing money ornegotiable instruments, for billing, col-



lections or other financial transactions or forpurchasing or selling property or has accessto property held in trust or to private prop-erty in the temporary custody of the state;

(d) That has mailroom duties as the pri-mary duty or job function of the position;

(e) In which the person has access topersonal information about employees ormembers of the public including Social Secu-rity numbers, dates of birth, driver licensenumbers, personal financial information orcriminal background information; or

(f) In which the person has access to taxor financial information of individuals orbusiness entities. [2005 c.730 §50]

Note: 305.078 was enacted into law by the Legisla-tive Assembly but was not added to or made a part ofORS chapter 305 or any series therein by legislativeaction. See Preface to Oregon Revised Statutes for fur-ther explanation.


305.083 [1969 c.520 §13; repealed by 1973 c.402 §30]

305.085 Charges for maps, documentsor publications. The Department of Re-venue is hereby authorized to charge a rea-sonable sum reflecting its costs, for eachcopy sold of maps, documents, or publicationssuch as those containing its laws and ad-ministrative rules or reports. The proceedsfrom such sales are to be deposited in thedepartment’s miscellaneous receipts accountestablished under the authority of ORS279A.290. [1969 c.479 §3; 1973 c.402 §4; 2003 c.794 §253]


(Tax Administration)305.100 Rules; forms. The Department

of Revenue shall:(1) Make such rules and regulations it

deems proper to regulate its own procedureand to effectually carry out the purposes forwhich it is constituted.

(2) Prescribe all forms of books andblanks used in the assessment and collectionof taxes not otherwise prescribed by law andchange the forms of blanks and books pre-scribed by law in case change is necessary.[Formerly 306.100]

305.102 Local budget and property taxlaw; compliance with constitutional limit;rules. The Department of Revenue shalladopt rules that it considers necessary tocarry out the provisions of chapter 459, Ore-gon Laws 1991, relating to Local BudgetLaw, appeals to boards of property tax ap-peals, administration of the property taxlaws, imposition and collection of taxes onproperty or compliance by local taxing offi-cials with the requirements of section 11b,

Article XI of the Oregon Constitution. [1991c.459 §35; 1995 c.650 §107; 1997 c.541 §§49,50]


Note: Legislative Counsel has substituted “chapter459, Oregon Laws 1991,” for the words “this Act” insection 35, chapter 459, Oregon Laws 1991, compiled as305.102. Specific ORS references have not been substi-tuted, pursuant to 173.160. These sections may be deter-mined by referring to the 1991 Comparative SectionTable located in Volume 20 of ORS.

305.105 Declaratory rulings by depart-ment; rules. The Department of Revenue inits discretion may, on petition by any inter-ested person, issue a declaratory ruling withrespect to the applicability to any person,property or state of facts of any rule or stat-ute enforceable by it. The department shallprescribe by rule the form, content and pro-cedure for submission, consideration and dis-position of such petitions. Full opportunityfor hearing shall be afforded to interestedparties. A declaratory ruling shall bind thedepartment and all parties to the proceedingson the state of facts alleged, unless it is al-tered or set aside by a court. A ruling shallbe subject to review in the Oregon Tax Courtand Supreme Court in the manner providedby ORS 305.445. [Formerly 306.710; 1989 c.414 §2]

305.110 Duty to construe tax laws; in-struction of officers acting under taxlaws. The Department of Revenue shall con-strue the tax and revenue laws of this statewhenever requested by any interested personor by any officer acting under such laws andshall instruct such officers as to their dutiesunder such laws. Such officers shall submitall questions arising with them which affectthe construction of tax and revenue laws ofthe state to the department. [Formerly 306.110]

305.115 [1969 c.520 §10; 1977 c.870 §8; 1979 c.527 §1;1979 c.687 §5; 1981 c.139 §6; 1985 c.761 §7; 1987 c.512 §1;1987 c.758 §7; 1991 c.459 §11; repealed by 1995 c.650 §114]

305.120 Enforcement of tax laws. (1)The Department of Revenue shall see thatrevenue officers comply with the tax and re-venue laws, that all taxes are collected, thatcomplaint is made against any person violat-ing such laws and that penalties prescribedby such laws are enforced.

(2) The Director of the Department ofRevenue may call upon the district attorneyor Attorney General to institute and conductprosecutions for violations of the laws in re-spect to the assessment and taxation ofproperty and the collection of public taxesand revenues. [Formerly 306.140]

305.125 Application of administrativerules. The Department of Revenue may notapply an administrative rule in a mannerthat requires a change in the treatment of



an item of income or expense, a deduction,exclusion, credit or other particular on a re-port or return filed by a taxpayer if:

(1) The taxpayer filed the report or re-turn by the date it was due; and

(2) The treatment of the item on the re-port or return was consistent with an ad-ministrative rule adopted and in effect at thetime that the report or return was filed. [2009c.494 §2]

305.130 Department as party to ac-tions involving property subject to cer-tain tax liens; complaint and summons.(1) The Department of Revenue may be madea party in any action in any court of thisstate or of the United States having juris-diction of the subject matter to quiet title to,to remove a cloud from the title to, or for theforeclosure of a mortgage or other lien upon,any real property or personal property, orboth, upon which the State of Oregon has orclaims to have a lien under ORS 311.673,311.679, 311.771, 314.430 or 321.570 or ORSchapter 323, and the judgment in such actionshall be conclusive and binding upon theState of Oregon and such department.

(2) The complaint in such action shall setforth with particularity the nature of anysuch lien had or claimed by the State of Or-egon. The summons in such action, togetherwith a copy of the complaint therein, shallbe served on such department in the mannerprescribed by ORCP 7 D(3)(h), and suchsummons shall require such department toappear and answer the complaint within 60days from the date of such service. [1961 c.573§4; 1979 c.284 §134; 1981 c.706 §6; 1985 c.816 §37; 1987c.158 §43; 1989 c.948 §7; 2003 c.804 §63]

305.140 Power to release real propertyfrom certain tax liens. (1) Any person hav-ing an interest in or lien upon any realproperty may request the Department of Re-venue in writing to release such real prop-erty from a cloud on the title of or lien onsuch property existing, created or continuedunder any one or more of the following:

(a) A warrant provided for in ORS314.430, 321.570 or 323.610; or

(b) The provisions of ORS 311.673,311.679, 311.689, 311.711 or 311.771.

(2) If, upon a request under subsection (1)of this section, the department finds that asale of such real property would not resultin satisfaction in whole or in part of thetaxes due, it shall execute a release of suchcloud or lien upon such property, and suchrelease shall be conclusive evidence of theremoval and extinguishment of such cloud orlien in respect of such real property.

(3) In addition to the release of cloud orlien provided for in subsection (1) of this

section, the department may execute releaseson part or all of any real property in thefollowing cases, which releases shall be con-clusive evidence of the removal and extin-guishment of such cloud or lien:

(a) If the department finds that liabilityfor the amount assessed, together with allinterest thereon and penalties and costs inrespect thereof, has been satisfied;

(b) If the department finds that the fairmarket value of that part of the property re-maining subject to the cloud or lien is atleast double the amount of the liability re-maining unsatisfied in respect of such taxand the amount of all prior liens upon theproperty;

(c) If there is supplied to the departmenteither an irrevocable letter of credit issuedby an insured institution as defined in ORS706.008 or a bond, in such form and withsuch surety as the department considers suf-ficient, conditioned upon the payment of theamount of the warrant, together with all in-terest in respect thereof, within 60 days afterthe issuance of the release; or

(d) If there is paid to the department inpartial satisfaction of the amount of thewarrant provided for in ORS 314.430, 321.570or 323.610 or the amount of any lien underORS 311.673, 311.679, 311.689, 311.711 or311.771, an amount not less than the value,as determined by the department, of the lienof the State of Oregon upon the part of theproperty so to be released. In determiningsuch value the department shall give consid-eration to the fair market value of the partof the property so to be released and to suchliens thereon as have priority to the lien ofthe State of Oregon. [1961 c.573 §3 (enacted in lieuof 314.435, 315.635 and 321.085); 1981 c.706 §7; 1985 c.816§38; 1987 c.158 §44; 1989 c.948 §8; 1991 c.331 §53; 1997c.631 §448]

305.145 When interest required to bewaived; power to waive, reduce or com-promise small tax balance or penalty andinterest; rules. (1) The Department of Re-venue or a county tax collector shall waiveinterest on an assessment if the taxpayer hasfailed to make a timely payment or has re-ceived an incorrect refund because:

(a) An employee of the department or ofa county tax collector acting in an officialcapacity, who had knowledge of the neces-sary facts, misled the taxpayer either bysome erroneous factual representation or bya course of dealing or conduct;

(b) The taxpayer relied on the misleadingfactual representation or conduct; and

(c) The taxpayer failed to make a timelypayment or has received an incorrect refundby reason of the taxpayer’s reliance on theinformation or course of conduct.



(2) Notwithstanding the provisions ofsubsection (1) of this section, interest maynot be waived after the appeal period for afinal determination has expired.

(3) The Department of Revenue may, inits discretion, upon good and sufficientcause, according to and consistent with itsrules and regulations, upon making a recordof its reason therefor, waive, reduce or com-promise any tax balance of $50 or less or anypart or all of the interest provided by thelaws of the State of Oregon that are col-lected by the Department of Revenue.

(4) The department may establish by ruleinstances in which the department may, inits discretion, waive any part or all of penal-ties provided by the laws of the State of Or-egon that are collected by the department.Rules adopted under this subsection are lim-ited to the waiver or reduction of penaltiesin cases where:

(a) Good and sufficient cause exists forthe actions of a taxpayer that resulted in theimposition of a penalty;

(b) The actions of a taxpayer that re-sulted in the imposition of a penalty consti-tute a first-time offense on the part of thetaxpayer; or

(c) The actions of the department en-hance long-term effectiveness, efficiency oradministration of the tax system. [1965 c.293§1; 1971 c.611 §1; 1985 c.761 §8; 1987 c.477 §1; 1995 c.650§108; 2005 c.136 §1]

305.150 Closing agreements. (1) TheDepartment of Revenue is authorized to en-ter into an agreement in writing with anyperson relating to the liability of such per-son, or of the person or estate for whom theperson acts, for any taxable period open toadjustment under the pertinent statutes oflimitation, in respect of any revenue measurewhich the department is required to admin-ister.

(2) Such agreement shall be final andconclusive on the date agreed to, and, exceptupon a showing of fraud or malfeasance ormisrepresentation of a material fact, thequestion, issue or case shall not be reopenedas to the matters agreed upon, and, in anyaction, suit or proceeding, such agreement,or any determination, assessment, collection,refund, abatement or credit made in accor-dance therewith shall not be annulled, modi-fied, set aside or disregarded. [Formerly 306.720;1969 c.520 §26]

305.155 Cancellation of uncollectibletax; filing order; releasing liens. (1) TheDepartment of Revenue shall cancel an un-paid tax imposed by laws of the State of Or-

egon that is collected by the department,including any penalty or interest applicableto the tax, if the department determines that:

(a) The tax has been delinquent for sevenor more years;

(b) All reasonable efforts have been madeto effect collection;

(c) The taxpayer cannot be located or isdead; and

(d) The tax is wholly uncollectible.(2) The department may cancel any tax

imposed by laws of the State of Oregon thatis collected by the department or any portionof the tax assessed against a person, includ-ing any penalty and interest that has notbeen collected, if the department determinesthat the administration and collection costsinvolved would exceed the amount that canreasonably be expected to be recovered.

(3) When taxes are canceled under sub-section (1) or (2) of this section, the depart-ment shall make an order canceling the tax,penalties and interest. The order shall befiled in the records of the department. Uponmaking the order, the department also shallcause to be canceled or released any lien ofrecord in the counties that may have beenfiled and entered therein. [1965 c.293 §2; 1973c.402 §5; 1989 c.934 §2; 2003 c.46 §2]

305.157 Extending statutory periods oflimitation. (1) The Director of the Depart-ment of Revenue by order may extend anystatutory period of limitation for taking ac-tion on any tax that is collected by the De-partment of Revenue when the directordetermines, in the director’s sole discretion,that an action of the Internal Revenue Ser-vice or a state-declared emergency will im-pair the ability of Oregon taxpayers or thestate to take the action required within thetime prescribed by law. The order may applyretroactively and extend a period of limita-tion that, as of the date of the order, hasexpired.

(2) The Secretary of State shall publishthe order in the bulletin referred to in ORS183.360. [2003 c.168 §2]

305.160 Reports from public officers.The Department of Revenue shall requirefrom any state, county or municipal officer,whose duties pertain to the assessment, ap-portionment, levy or collection of taxes andpublic revenues, or the disbursement of pub-lic funds, reports and statements in suchforms as the department may prescribe, as toany matter deemed material and relevant tothe attainment of uniformity in the assess-ment and collection of taxes and public re-venues. [Formerly 306.160]



305.170 Complaints concerning taxlaws; reports and recommendations toLegislative Assembly. The Department ofRevenue:

(1) Shall see that complaints concerningthe law may be heard, information as to itseffects may be collected and all proper sug-gestions as to amendments may be made.

(2) Shall report to the Legislative As-sembly, at each odd-numbered year regularsession, the total amount of taxes collectedin the state for state, county and municipalpurposes.

(3) May investigate the tax laws of thisand other states and the possible taxable re-sources of this state for the purpose of re-commending to the legislature methods bywhich a more just and equitable system oftaxation may be developed.

(4) Shall recommend to the LegislativeAssembly at each odd-numbered year regularsession such amendments of the Constitutionor laws as may seem necessary to remedyinjustice or irregularity in taxation, or to fa-cilitate the assessment and collection ofpublic taxes and revenues. [Formerly 306.170;1975 c.605 §16; 2011 c.545 §40]

305.180 Effect of tax warrant for pur-poses of out-of-state collection. (1) For thepurposes of out-of-state collections, a taxwarrant shall have the effect of a judgmentas provided by ORS 205.125 and 314.430.However, if the laws of another state requirea judgment issued by a court for the pur-poses of executing creditor’s remedies in thatstate, the Department of Revenue may obtaina judgment based upon a tax warrant asprovided in this section.

(2) The department shall give 30 days’written notice to any person subject to awarrant for the collection of taxes, penaltiesor interest of its intention to obtain a judg-ment in the Oregon Tax Court. Such noticeshall be given by either certified or regis-tered mail. The person subject to the warrantshall have 30 days from the date of mailingof the notice to:

(a) Pay the amount of taxes, penaltiesand interest due; or

(b) File a complaint in the Oregon TaxCourt contesting the validity of the warrant.

(3) If the amount due is not paid or anappeal to the Oregon Tax Court is not madewithin 30 days from the date of mailing ofthe notice, the department may petition theOregon Tax Court to enter a judgment in theamount indicated in the warrant plus inter-est.

(4) Upon a showing by the department,by affidavit or otherwise, that the depart-ment has complied with the provisions gov-

erning the issuance of a warrant and theprovisions of this section, the Oregon TaxCourt shall enter a judgment against theperson subject to the warrant in the amountindicated in the warrant plus interest.

(5) Appeals from judgments issued undersubsection (4) of this section shall be madein the manner provided for appeal of a judg-ment of the Oregon Tax Court. [1989 c.423 §2;1995 c.53 §1; 1995 c.650 §109]

305.182 Filing of warrants for unpaidtaxes; release, cancellation and satisfac-tion. (1) The Department of Revenue mayfile warrants issued against any taxpayer forunpaid taxes in the Office of the Secretaryof State as provided in this section.

(2) Certification of warrants for unpaidtaxes by the Director of the Department ofRevenue, or the representative of the direc-tor, entitles the warrants to be filed and noother certification or acknowledgment isnecessary.

(3) If a warrant described in subsection(1) of this section is presented to the Secre-tary of State for filing, the Secretary of Stateshall cause the warrant to be marked, heldand indexed in accordance with the pro-visions of ORS 79.0519 as if the warrant werea financing statement within the meaning ofORS chapter 79.

(4) If a certificate of release, cancellationor satisfaction of any warrant is presented tothe Secretary of State for filing, the Secre-tary of State shall:

(a) Cause a certificate of release to bemarked, held and indexed as if the certificatewere a termination statement within themeaning of ORS 79.0512.

(b) Cause a certificate of cancellation orsatisfaction to be held, marked and indexedas if the certificate were a release of collat-eral within the meaning of ORS 79.0512.[Formerly 314.432; 2001 c.445 §172]

305.184 Certificate of outstandingwarrants; fee; rules. (1) Upon request ofany person, the Secretary of State shall issuea certificate showing whether there is on filein the Office of the Secretary of State, on thedate and hour stated therein, any warrantdescribed in ORS 305.182 (1), or certificateor notice affecting any warrant naming aparticular person, and if a notice or certif-icate is on file, giving the date and hour ofits filing. All financing statements and state-ments of assignment, if any, filed pursuant toORS chapter 79 for a particular debtor whosename is identical to the particular personnamed in the warrant shall be shown on thiscertificate. The uniform fee for such a cer-tificate for a particular person shall be pre-scribed by the Secretary of State by rule. Ifthe request for the certificate is in writing



and not in the standard form prescribed bythe Secretary of State, an additional fee shallbe prescribed. Upon request, the Secretaryof State shall furnish a copy of any warrantor notice or certificate affecting a warrantfor a fee per page, the fee to be as prescribedby the Secretary of State by rule. No feeprescribed under this subsection shall exceed$5.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions ofORS 79.0525 or subsection (1) of this section,relating to the time and manner of the pay-ment of fees to the Secretary of State, the feefor filing and indexing each warrant de-scribed in ORS 305.182 (1) shall be chargedand collected in the same manner as pro-vided in ORS 205.395 for payment by a stateagency of fees due to the county clerk forrecording warrants. [Formerly 314.434; 2001 c.445§173]

305.190 Subpoenaing and examiningwitnesses, books and papers; applicationto tax court for disobeyance of subpoena.(1) Subject to ORS 305.390 and 305.392, theDirector of the Department of Revenue, inconformity to the resolutions or rules of theDepartment of Revenue, may subpoena andexamine witnesses, administer oaths and or-der the production of any books or papers inthe hands of any person, company or corpo-ration, whenever necessary in the prose-cution of any inquiries deemed necessary orproper.

(2) If any person disobeys any subpoenaof the director, or refuses to testify when re-quired by the director, the department mayapply to the Oregon Tax Court for an orderto the person to produce the books and pa-pers or attend and testify, or otherwise com-ply with the demand of the department. Theapplication to the court shall be by ex partemotion upon which the court shall make anorder requiring the person against whom itis directed to appear before the court in thecounty in which the person resides or has aplace of business on such date as the courtshall designate in its order and show causewhy the person should not comply with thedemand of the department. The order shallbe served upon the person to whom it is di-rected in the manner required by this statefor service of process, which service shall berequired to confer jurisdiction upon thecourt. Upon failure of such person to showcause for noncompliance, the court shallmake an order requiring the person to com-ply with the demand of the departmentwithin such time as the court shall direct.Failure to obey any order issued by the courtunder this section is contempt of court. Theremedy provided by this section shall be inaddition to other remedies, civil or criminal,

existing under the tax laws or other laws ofthis state.

(3) ORS 305.420 (4) applies to the issu-ance of a subpoena under this section.[Formerly 306.190; 1977 c.884 §4; 1981 c.139 §7; 1993 c.353§5; 2003 c.46 §3; 2005 c.345 §3]

305.192 Disclosure of books and papersrelating to appraisal or assessment of in-dustrial property. (1) Notwithstanding ORS192.410 to 192.505 or any other law or rule,any books or papers produced by an owneror any other person with respect to an in-dustrial property, pursuant to an order is-sued under ORS 305.190 (1) in connectionwith the appraisal or assessment of indus-trial property, shall be exempt from disclo-sure by the Department of Revenue. Nosubpoena or judicial order shall be issuedcompelling the department or any of its offi-cers or employees to disclose those books orpapers.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of thissection, the department may disclose, subjectto any order entered by the court limitingfurther disclosure, any books or papers, orany part or all of the information containedtherein, in a judicial proceeding involvingthe value of that industrial property with re-spect to which the books and papers wereproduced or any other similar industrialproperty.

(3) Before the department discloses infor-mation under subsection (2) of this section,it shall notify the owner of the property towhich the information relates. The ownershall have 30 days to seek an order from thetax court prohibiting or limiting thedepartment’s disclosure of the information.In determining whether to allow disclosureof the information, the court shall considerthe need for disclosure and the possible harmto the owner from that disclosure. The deci-sion of the tax court is reviewable by theSupreme Court in the same manner as anyother decision of the tax court. [1991 c.903 §3;1995 c.650 §83]

305.193 Disclosure of tax informationto designated persons; rules. (1) Notwith-standing any law restricting the disclosureof taxpayer particulars or other tax informa-tion, the Department of Revenue may adoptrules permitting the disclosure of particularsor other tax information to a person desig-nated by a taxpayer, either expressly or byimplication, to receive the information. Thedepartment may consider a person designatedby implication if the person reveals to thedepartment knowledge of tax informationthat is:

(a) Related to the tax matter that is thesubject of the inquiry or communication;

(b) Of a nature that is generally knownonly to the taxpayer; and



(c) Of a nature that a taxpayer ordinarilywould not share with another person exceptfor the purpose of empowering that person toreceive information regarding the tax mat-ters of the taxpayer.

(2) Rules adopted under this section maybe limited in application to specific tax pro-grams or specific classes of taxpayers.

(3) This section does not apply to anyparticulars or other tax information collectedfor purposes of administering the provisionsof ORS chapter 657.

(4) As used in this section, “particulars”has the meaning given that term in ORS314.835. [2003 c.541 §3]

305.195 Written interrogatories; con-tents; time and manner of service; an-swer; objection; order for answer;demand for information by taxpayer; or-der for information. (1) The Department ofRevenue may serve upon any taxpayer writ-ten interrogatories to be answered by thetaxpayer served or, if the taxpayer served isa corporation, partnership or association, byany officer or agent, who shall furnish suchinformation as is available to the taxpayer.Interrogatories may be served by the depart-ment whenever it deems it necessary for thepurpose of determining the tax liability ofany taxpayer having income from businessactivity which is taxable both within andwithout the state. The request for theinterrogatories shall explain the nature ofthe department’s inquiry, the use to be madeof the information, and the rights of appealprovided under subsection (4) of this section.The use of interrogatories shall be availableat all times prior to a final order or deter-mination by the department in the matterbeing investigated.

(2) Each interrogatory shall be answeredseparately and fully in writing under oath,unless it is objected to, in which event thereasons for objection shall be stated in lieuof an answer. The answers are to be signedby the person making them. All objectionsmade to written interrogatories must besigned by the attorney for the party makingthe objection, or by the party if the party hasno attorney. The taxpayer upon whom theinterrogatories have been served shall servea copy of the answers, and objections if any,within 30 days after the service of theinterrogatories.

(3) If any taxpayer refuses or fails to an-swer an interrogatory within the time re-quired, the department may apply to theOregon Tax Court for an order requiring an-swer of the interrogatory served. The appli-cation to the court shall be by ex partemotion upon which the court shall make anorder requiring the taxpayer against whom

it is directed to appear before the court onsuch date as the court shall designate in itsorder and show cause why the taxpayershould not answer the interrogatory of thedepartment. The order shall require appear-ance in the county in which the person re-sides or has a place of business, or if thereis no residence or place of business, at thecourt at Salem, Oregon, or in any event atsuch place as is agreeable to the parties andthe court. The order shall be served upon theperson to whom it is directed in the mannerrequired by this state for service of process,which service shall be required to confer ju-risdiction upon the court. Upon failure ofsuch person to show cause for noncompli-ance, the court shall make an order requir-ing the person to comply with the demandof the department within such time as thecourt shall direct. Failure to obey any orderissued by the court under this section iscontempt of court. The remedy provided bythis section shall be in addition to otherremedies, civil or criminal, existing underthe tax laws or other laws of this state.

(4) If, after the taxpayer has been servedwith the department’s interrogatories, thetaxpayer has reason to believe that the tax-payer has not been fully informed by the de-partment as to the nature of thedepartment’s inquiry or the use by the de-partment of the information supplied, thetaxpayer may, within 30 days after serviceupon the taxpayer, serve upon the depart-ment a demand for full information as tosuch inquiry and use. The department shallanswer the demand within 30 days of receipt.If no answer is made by the department, orif answer is made and the answer is deemedunsatisfactory by the taxpayer, the taxpayermay within 30 days of the department’s an-swer, or 60 days of the demand if no answerhas been made, apply to the Oregon TaxCourt for an order requiring answer of thedepartment by filing a petition in the mannerprovided by law for filing a personal incometax appeal to the court. The department shallanswer and, after hearing, the court shallmake such disposition of the matter as itdeems necessary to achieve justice. [1977 c.866§8]


305.200 Witness fees and mileage. Wit-nesses testifying before the Department ofRevenue at its request and on its behalf shallbe allowed the fees and mileage provided forwitnesses in ORS 44.415 (2). The fees andmileage shall be paid by warrant upon theState Treasurer upon the certificate of theDirector of the Department of Revenue.



However, any county or state officer shallreceive the actual necessary traveling ex-penses of the county or state officer only.No tender of witness fees or mileage in ad-vance shall be necessary. [Formerly 306.200; 1969c.520 §27; 1989 c.980 §11]


305.215 Conflicting claims for creditfor dependent; notice procedure; appeal;evidence as public record. (1) Where thereare conflicting claims to a personal ex-emption credit for a dependent allowed underthe personal income tax laws, the Depart-ment of Revenue shall notify by certifiedmail each person claiming the same depend-ent, and shall set a time and place conven-ient to each claim insofar as it is practicable,for a joint determination of the conflictingclaims. Each person so notified who appearsshall bring the information from the person’sincome tax returns or reports that supportsthe person’s claim, together with all records,data or other evidence providing the neces-sary supporting material to the informationshown on the income tax return. All suchmaterial shall be available for inspection bythe other claimant, notwithstanding any pro-vision of ORS 314.835, 314.840 or 314.991. Ifeither claimant fails or refuses to appear orbring such information in part or in whole,the department shall make its determinationon the basis of all the information and evi-dence supplied. The provisions of this chap-ter relating to the administration of thepersonal income tax laws apply to the deter-mination.

(2) If an appeal is taken to the OregonTax Court pursuant to ORS 305.560 by eitherclaimant, each claimant shall make availableto the court information from the person’sincome tax returns or reports supportingthat person’s claim, together with all evi-dence or supporting data furnished to orsubpoenaed by the Department of Revenue,as well as such other information as may bepresented to the court in the manner other-wise provided for in the hearing of cases inthe Oregon Tax Court. If either claimantfails or refuses to appear or bring such in-formation in part or in whole, the court shallmake its determination on the basis of allthe evidence introduced. All such evidenceshall constitute a public record and shall beavailable to the parties and the court not-withstanding any provision of ORS 314.835,314.840 or 314.991. [1979 c.690 §11; 1985 c.345 §4;1987 c.293 §61; 2005 c.94 §18]

305.217 When deduction for amountspaid as wages or remuneration permit-ted. No deduction shall be allowed underORS chapter 316, 317 or 318 to an individualor entity for amounts paid as wages or as

remuneration for personal services if thatindividual or entity fails to report the pay-ments as required by ORS 314.360 or 316.202on the date prescribed therefor (determinedwith regard to any extension of time for fil-ing) unless it is shown that the failure toreport is due to reasonable cause and notdone with the intent to evade payment of thetax imposed by ORS chapter 316 or to assistanother in evading the payment of such tax.[1987 c.843 §2]

305.220 Interest on deficiency, delin-quency or refunds; adjustments in rates;rules; computation. (1) Unless specificallyprovided otherwise by statute or by rule ofthe Director of the Department of Revenueadopted pursuant to subsection (3) of thissection, every deficiency or delinquency aris-ing under any law administered by the De-partment of Revenue shall bear simpleinterest at the rate of five-sixths of one per-cent per month or fraction thereof.

(2) Unless specifically provided otherwiseby statute or by rule of the director adoptedpursuant to subsection (3) of this section,every refund arising under any law adminis-tered by the department shall, subject tosubsections (3) and (5) of this section andORS 305.222, bear simple interest at the rateof five-sixths of one percent per month, orfraction thereof.

(3)(a) If the director determines that therates of interest for deficiencies, delinquen-cies and refunds established in subsections(1) and (2) of this section are at least onepercentage point more or less than the pre-vailing rates of interest established by theInternal Revenue Service for underpaymentsarising under the federal tax laws to whichone percentage point has been added, the di-rector may adopt, by rule, adjusted interestrates. The director shall not adopt adjustedinterest rates more than once in a calendaryear. Notice of intent to adopt adjusted in-terest rates shall be given in the mannerprovided in ORS 183.335, not less than threemonths before the proposed effective date ofthe adjusted rates.

(b) In establishing the adjusted interestrates to be adopted under this subsection:

(A) The director shall take into consider-ation the current interest rates establishedby the Internal Revenue Service for under-payments arising under the federal tax laws.

(B) To any interest amount determinedby taking into consideration the current in-terest rates established by the Internal Re-venue Service for underpayments undersubparagraph (A) of this paragraph, whichinterest amount shall be expressed at a rateper month or fraction thereof, there shall beadded one-twelfth of one percent.



(4) If the director adopts an adjusted in-terest rate for deficiencies and delinquencies,the director shall adopt an adjusted interestrate for refunds that is equal to the adjustedinterest rate for deficiencies and delinquen-cies.

(5) Any change in the rate of interestapplicable to deficiencies, delinquencies orrefunds resulting from the adoption of ad-justed interest rates by the director underthis section shall apply to deficiencies, delin-quencies and refunds outstanding on the ef-fective date of the rule, or arising on or afterthat date, but only with respect to interestperiods beginning on or after that date.

(6) If the rate of interest on a deficiency,a delinquency or a refund is governed by thissection, and if a fraction of a month is in-volved in making the computation of intereston the deficiency, delinquency or refund,then for the fractional month, the simple in-terest otherwise provided shall be computedon a daily basis. [1982 s.s.1 c.16 §2; 1987 c.647 §5;2001 c.114 §§2,4]

305.222 Determination of interest rate.For purposes of determining the interest rateestablished under ORS 305.220:

(1) In the case of a refund of tax orderedby the Oregon Tax Court or the Oregon Su-preme Court and arising under any law ad-ministered by the Department of Revenue, ifthe refund is not paid by the departmentwithin 60 days after the date of the order,the interest rate provided under ORS 305.220shall be one-third of one percent greater thanthat so provided under ORS 305.220, but onlywith respect to interest periods that begin 61days after the date the order is entered.

(2)(a) In the case of a notice of assess-ment pursuant to any law administered bythe department, if the deficiency is not paidwithin 60 days after the date of the noticeof assessment, the interest rate provided un-der ORS 305.220 shall be one-third of onepercent greater than that so provided underORS 305.220, but only for interest periodsthat begin 61 days after the date of notice ofassessment.

(b) In the case of an assessment underORS 305.265 (12), if the delinquency is notpaid within 60 days after the date of the as-sessment, the interest rate provided underORS 305.220 shall be one-third of one percentgreater than that so provided under ORS305.220. The increased rate shall apply onlyfor interest periods that begin 61 days afterthe date of notice of the delinquency.

(3) If the deficiency assessment is ap-pealed to the Oregon Tax Court withoutprior payment of tax, then notwithstandingsubsection (2) of this section, the increasedrate of interest shall commence only for in-

terest periods that begin 61 days after thedate that the order of the Oregon Tax Courtor the Oregon Supreme Court affirming thedeficiency is entered. [1987 c.647 §7; 1993 c.726 §2;1995 c.650 §110; 1997 c.325 §§3,4]

305.225 Request of assistance by lawenforcement agency; disclosure of tax re-cords. (1) Notwithstanding ORS 314.835, ifthe Department of Revenue determines thatassistance of a law enforcement agency isnecessary to insure compliance with any ofthe laws of this state administered by it, thedepartment may request such assistance. Inconnection with assistance requested underthis section only, the Department of Revenuemay disclose a tax return, report or claim,or information in its files regarding a taxreturn, report or claim permitted or requiredto be filed with the department under anylaw administered by the department to theOregon State Police, district attorney, grandjury, judicial authority or local law enforce-ment agency for the investigation or theprosecution of violations of the criminal lawsof this state relating to perjury, theft or for-gery if those violations occur in connectionwith the filing of such a return, report orclaim, or of the tax laws of this state. Dis-closure under this section shall be solely forthe purpose of investigation or prosecutionof violations involving the filing of a false orfraudulent return, report or claim, whereinthe validity of the return, report or claim, orinformation contained therein, is at issue.Returns, reports or claims, or informationcontained therein shall not be disclosed ifthe purpose for which the information issought is as evidence of a crime unrelated tothe validity of the return, report or claim, orthe information contained therein, suppliedto the department or if the information isrequested by a law enforcement agency inconnection with any other investigation orprosecution.

(2) Each person given access to the con-fidential tax information authorized to bedisclosed under this section shall first exe-cute and file with the department the certif-icate required by ORS 314.840 (3) and shallcause a similar certificate to be executed andfiled with the department by any associateor subordinate who is assigned to use theinformation for the purposes stated in thissection. [1985 c.761 §26; 2009 c.640 §1]

305.227 [1985 c.85 §2; repealed by 1993 c.593 §10]

305.228 Penalty for second dishonoredpayment of taxes; waiver. (1) The Depart-ment of Revenue shall assess a penaltyagainst any person who has previouslytendered a dishonored check, draft, order orelectronic funds transfer for the payment ofany amount collected by the department andwho subsequently makes and tenders to the



department any check, draft, order or elec-tronic funds transfer for the payment of anytax or any other amount collected by the de-partment, including amounts assigned forcollection under ORS 293.250, that is dishon-ored by the drawee for the following reasons:

(a) Lack of funds;(b) Lack of credit;(c) Because the maker has no account

with the drawee; or(d) Because the maker has ordered pay-

ment stopped on the check, draft, order orelectronic funds transfer.

(2) The amount of the penalty assessedunder subsection (1) of this section shall beequal to the greater of $25 or three times theamount of the dishonored check, draft, orderor electronic funds transfer. The amount ofthe penalty shall not be greater than $500.

(3) The penalty imposed under this sec-tion is in addition to any other penalty im-posed by law. Any person against whom apenalty is assessed under this section mayappeal to the tax court as provided in ORS305.404 to 305.560. If the penalty is not paidwithin 10 days after the order of the taxcourt becomes final, the department may re-cord the order and collect the amount as-sessed in the manner as income taxdeficiencies are recorded and collected underORS 314.430.

(4) The department may waive all or anypart of the penalty assessed under this sec-tion on a showing that there was a reason-able basis for tendering the check, draft,order or electronic funds transfer.

(5) As used in this section, “electronicfunds transfer” has the meaning given thatterm in ORS 293.525. [1985 c.85 §3; 1995 c.650 §111;1999 c.61 §1]

305.229 When penalties not imposed;rules. Notwithstanding any other provisionof the tax laws of this state that are admin-istered by the Department of Revenue, thedepartment may adopt rules setting forthcircumstances or conditions under which apenalty that otherwise would be imposed un-der those tax laws is not imposed. [2003 c.317§5]

(Representation of Taxpayer)305.230 Qualifications of persons re-

presenting taxpayer; procedure for desig-nating representative; rules. (1)Notwithstanding ORS 9.320:

(a) Any person who is qualified to prac-tice law or public accountancy in this state,any person who has been granted active en-rollment to practice before the Internal Re-venue Service and who is qualified toprepare tax returns in this state or any per-

son who is the authorized employee of a tax-payer and is regularly employed by thetaxpayer in tax matters may represent thetaxpayer before a tax court magistrate or theDepartment of Revenue in any conference orproceeding with respect to the administra-tion of any tax.

(b) Any person who is licensed by theState Board of Tax Practitioners or who isexempt from such licensing requirement asprovided for and limited by ORS 673.610 mayrepresent a taxpayer before a tax court mag-istrate or the department in any conferenceor proceeding with respect to the adminis-tration of any tax on or measured by net in-come.

(c) Any shareholder of an S corporation,as defined in section 1361 of the InternalRevenue Code, as amended and in effect onDecember 31, 2010, may represent the corpo-ration in any proceeding before a tax courtmagistrate or the department in the samemanner as if the shareholder were a partnerand the S corporation were a partnership.The S corporation must designate in writinga tax matters shareholder authorized to rep-resent the S corporation.

(d) An individual who is licensed as areal estate broker or principal real estatebroker under ORS 696.022 or is a state cer-tified appraiser or state licensed appraiserunder ORS 674.310 or is a registered ap-praiser under ORS 308.010 may represent ataxpayer before a tax court magistrate or thedepartment in any conference or proceedingwith respect to the administration of any advalorem property tax.

(e) A general partner who has been des-ignated by members of a partnership as theirtax matters partner under ORS 305.242 mayrepresent those partners in any conferenceor proceeding with respect to the adminis-tration of any tax on or measured by net in-come.

(f) Any person authorized under rulesadopted by the department may represent ataxpayer before the department in any con-ference or proceeding with respect to anytax. Rules adopted under this paragraph, tothe extent feasible, shall be consistent withfederal law that governs representation be-fore the Internal Revenue Service, as federallaw is amended and in effect on December31, 2010.

(g) Any person authorized under rulesadopted by the tax court may represent ataxpayer in a proceeding before a tax courtmagistrate.

(2) A person may not be recognized asrepresenting a taxpayer pursuant to this sec-tion unless there is first filed with the mag-istrate or department a written



authorization, or unless it appears to thesatisfaction of the magistrate or departmentthat the representative does in fact have au-thority to represent the taxpayer. A personrecognized as an authorized representativeunder rules or procedures adopted by the taxcourt shall be considered an authorized rep-resentative by the department.

(3) A taxpayer represented by someoneother than an attorney is bound by all thingsdone by the authorized representative, andmay not thereafter claim any proceeding waslegally defective because the taxpayer wasnot represented by an attorney.

(4) Prior to the holding of a conferenceor proceeding before the tax court magistrateor department, written notice shall be givenby the magistrate or department to the tax-payer of the provisions of subsection (3) ofthis section. [1969 c.97 §1; 1973 c.681 §3; 1979 c.596§1; 1985 c.761 §40; 1985 c.802 §35; 1987 c.468 §6; 1989 c.414§3; 1991 c.5 §19; 1995 c.79 §106; 1995 c.556 §30; 1995 c.650§12; 1997 c.839 §41; 1999 c.90 §28; 1999 c.224 §4; 1999 c.322§36; 2001 c.300 §59; 2001 c.660 §23; 2003 c.46 §4; 2003 c.77§1; 2003 c.704 §14a; 2005 c.345 §4; 2005 c.346 §1; 2005 c.832§13; 2007 c.319 §28; 2007 c.614 §1; 2008 c.45 §1; 2009 c.5§11; 2009 c.909 §11; 2010 c.82 §11; 2011 c.7 §11]

305.240 [1969 c.520 §14; repealed by 1979 c.596 §2]

305.242 Representation before depart-ment or magistrate of designated part-nership tax matters; designated taxpartner. (1) When the treatment of partner-ship items on a partner’s return is consistentwith the treatment of that item on the part-nership return and results in a notice of de-ficiency, the partners may designate a taxmatters partner to represent each of thembefore the Department of Revenue in anyconference or before a tax court magistratein any proceeding with respect to the ad-ministration of any tax on or measured bynet income.

(2) The designation of a tax matterspartner shall be made in writing and filedwith the department or magistrate within 30days after the date of the notice of defi-ciency. The tax matters partner must be:

(a) A general partner in the partnershipat some time during the taxable year; or

(b) A general partner in the partnershipat the time the designation is made.

(3) If a notice explaining the partnershipadjustments is mailed by the department tothe tax matters partner with respect to anypartnership taxable year, the tax matterspartner shall supply the department or, ifapplicable, the magistrate with the name,address, profits interest and taxpayer iden-tification number of each person who was apartner in the partnership at any time duringthe taxable year, unless that information wasprovided in the partnership return for thatyear.

(4) A timely request for a conferencefiled with the department or appeal filed withthe tax court by the tax matters partnershall be considered as a request or an appealby all of the partners represented by the taxmatters partner, and all issues regardingtreatment of partnership items shall be re-solved in a single conference.

(5) A partner who elects to be repre-sented by a tax matters partner shall bebound by all things done by the tax matterspartner and may not thereafter claim thatany act or proceeding was legally defectivebecause the partner was not represented byan attorney. [1989 c.414 §1; 1995 c.650 §13]


305.245 Representation before taxcourt magistrate by officer or employeeof county or department. NotwithstandingORS 8.690, 9.160, 9.320, ORS chapter 180,ORS 203.145 or other law, in any conferenceor proceeding before a tax court magistratewith respect to the administration of any tax,a county or the Department of Revenue maybe represented by any officer or authorizedemployee of the county or department. [1985c.761 §39; 1995 c.650 §14]

305.250 [1969 c.520 §12; repealed by 1975 c.705 §12]

305.260 Representation before depart-ment or magistrate by former depart-ment personnel prohibited. No formerofficer, clerk or employee of the Departmentof Revenue shall represent any taxpayer inany claim or controversy pending in the De-partment of Revenue or in the magistrate di-vision of the tax court during theemployment of the former officer, clerk oremployee therein, nor shall the former offi-cer, clerk or employee in any manner or byany means, aid in the prosecution of anysuch claim, within two years next after theformer officer, clerk or employee has ceasedto be such officer, clerk or employee. [1973c.402 §25(1); 1995 c.650 §15]

(Tax Deficiencies; Notice; Appeals)305.263 Order requiring filing report

or return; show cause; contempt; appeal.(1) If a person fails to file a report or returnwithin 60 days of the time prescribed by anytax law administered by the Department ofRevenue, the department may petition theOregon Tax Court for an order requiring theperson to file the report or return or to showcause why the person is not required to filethe report or return.

(2) Within 10 days after the filing of thepetition, the tax court shall enter an orderdirecting the person to file the report or re-



turn or to appear and show cause why noreport or return is required to be filed. Thepetition and order shall be served upon theperson in the manner provided by law forservice of a complaint filed in the tax court.Not later than 20 days after service, theperson shall:

(a) File the requested report or returnwith the department;

(b) Request from the court an ordergranting reasonable time within which to filethe requested report or return with the de-partment; or

(c) File with the court an answer to thepetition showing cause why such report orreturn is not required to be filed.

(3)(a) If an answer is filed, the court shallset the matter for hearing within 20 daysfrom the filing of the answer, and shall de-termine the matter in an expeditious manner,consistent with the rights of the parties.

(b) If the person fails to answer withinthe time prescribed, or if the person fails toobey any order entered by the tax court un-der this section, such failure is punishableas contempt of court.

(4) An appeal may be taken to the Su-preme Court as provided in ORS 305.445,from an order of the tax court made and en-tered after a hearing and determination un-der subsection (3) of this section.

(5) Costs shall be awarded to the prevail-ing party. [1985 c.266 §3]

305.265 Deficiency notice; payment ofdeficiency; assessment; appeal; interest;rules. (1) Except as provided in ORS 305.305,the provisions of this section apply to all re-ports or returns of tax or tax liability in-cluding claims under ORS 310.630 to 310.706filed with the Department of Revenue underthe revenue and tax laws administered by it,except those filed under ORS 320.005 to320.150.

(2) As soon as practicable after a reportor return is filed, the department shall ex-amine or audit it, if required by law or thedepartment deems such examination or auditpracticable. If the department discovers froman examination or an audit of a report orreturn or otherwise that a deficiency exists,it shall compute the tax and give notice tothe person filing the return of the deficiencyand of the department’s intention to assessthe deficiency, plus interest and any appro-priate penalty. Except as provided in subsec-tion (3) of this section, the notice shall:

(a) State the reason for each adjustment;(b) Give a reference to the statute, regu-

lation or department ruling upon which theadjustment is based; and

(c) Be certified by the department thatthe adjustments are made in good faith andnot for the purpose of extending the periodof assessment.

(3) When the notice of deficiency de-scribed in subsection (2) of this section re-sults from the correction of a mathematicalor clerical error and states what would havebeen the correct tax but for the mathemat-ical or clerical error, such notice need stateonly the reason for each adjustment to thereport or return.

(4) With respect to any tax return filedunder ORS chapter 314, 316, 317 or 318, defi-ciencies shall include but not be limited tothe assertion of additional tax arising from:

(a) The failure to report properly itemsor amounts of income subject to or which arethe measure of the tax;

(b) The deduction of items or amountsnot permitted by law;

(c) Mathematical errors in the return orthe amount of tax shown due in the recordsof the department; or

(d) Improper credits or offsets against thetax claimed in the return.

(5)(a) The notice of deficiency shall beaccompanied by a statement explaining theperson’s right to make written objections,the person’s right to request a conferenceand the procedure for requesting a confer-ence. The statement, and an accompanyingform, shall also explain that conference de-terminations are routinely transmitted viaregular mail and that a person desiring tohave conference determinations transmittedby certified mail may do so by indicating onthe form the person’s preference for certifiedmail and by returning the form with theperson’s written objections as described inparagraph (b) of this subsection.

(b) Within 30 days from the date of thenotice of deficiency, the person given noticeshall pay the deficiency with interest com-puted to the date of payment and any penaltyproposed. Or within that time the personshall advise the department in writing of ob-jections to the deficiency, and may request aconference with the department, which shallbe held prior to the expiration of the one-year period set forth in subsection (7) of thissection.

(6) If a request for a conference is made,the department shall notify the person of atime and place for conference and appoint aconference officer to meet with the personfor an informal discussion of the matter. Af-ter the conference, the conference officershall send the determination of the issues tothe person. The determination letter shall besent by regular mail, or by certified mail ifthe person given notice has indicated a pref-



erence for transmission of the determinationby certified mail. The department shall as-sess any deficiency in the manner set forthin subsection (7) of this section. If no con-ference is requested and written objectionsare received, the department shall make adetermination of the issues considering suchobjections, and shall assess any deficiency inthe manner provided in subsection (7) of thissection. The failure to request or have aconference shall not affect the rights of ap-peal otherwise provided by law.

(7) If neither payment nor written ob-jection to the deficiency is received by thedepartment within 30 days after the noticeof deficiency has been mailed, the depart-ment shall assess the deficiency, plus inter-est and penalties, if any, and shall send theperson a notice of assessment, stating theamount so assessed, and interest and penal-ties. The notice of assessment shall be mailedwithin one year from the date of the noticeof deficiency unless an extension of time isagreed upon as described in subsection (8) ofthis section. The notice shall advise the per-son of the rights of appeal.

(8) If, prior to the expiration of any pe-riod of time prescribed in subsection (7) ofthis section for giving of notice of assess-ment, the department and the person consentin writing to the deficiency being assessedafter the expiration of such prescribed pe-riod, such deficiency may be assessed at anytime prior to the expiration of the periodagreed upon. The period so agreed upon maybe extended by subsequent agreements inwriting made before the expiration of theperiod agreed upon.

(9) The failure to hold a requested con-ference within the one-year period prescribedin subsection (5) of this section shall not in-validate any assessment of deficiency madewithin the one-year period pursuant to sub-section (7) of this section or within any ex-tension of time made pursuant to subsection(8) of this section, but shall invalidate anyassessment of interest or penalties attribut-able to the deficiency. After an assessmenthas been made, the department and the per-son assessed may still hold a conferencewithin 90 days from the date of assessment.If a conference is held, the 90-day period un-der ORS 305.280 (2) shall run from the dateof the conference officer’s written determi-nation of the issues.

(10)(a) In the case of a failure to file areport or return on the date prescribedtherefor (determined with regard to any ex-tension for filing), the department shall de-termine the tax according to the best of itsinformation and belief, assess the tax plusappropriate penalty and interest, and givewritten notice of the failure to file the report

or return and of the determination and as-sessment to the person required to make thefiling. The amount of tax shall be reduced bythe amount of any part of the tax which ispaid on or before the date prescribed forpayment of the tax and by the amount of anycredit against the tax which may be lawfullyclaimed upon the return.

(b) Notwithstanding subsection (14) ofthis section and ORS 305.280, and only to theextent allowed by rules adopted by the de-partment, the department may accept the fil-ing of a report or return submitted by aperson who has been assessed a tax underparagraph (a) of this subsection.

(c) The department may reject a reportor return:

(A) That is not verified as required byORS 305.810;

(B) That the department determines isnot true and correct as to every materialmatter as required by ORS 305.815; or

(C) If the department may impose a pen-alty under ORS 316.992 (1) with respect tothe report or return.

(d) If the department rejects a report orreturn of a person assessed a tax under par-agraph (a) of this subsection, the departmentshall issue a notice of rejection to the per-son. The person may appeal the rejection tothe magistrate division of the Oregon TaxCourt only if:

(A) The report or return was filed within90 days of the date the department’s assess-ment under paragraph (a) of this subsectionwas issued; and

(B) The appeal is filed within 90 days ofthe date shown on the notice of rejection.

(e) If the person assessed under para-graph (a) of this subsection submits a reportor return to the department and appeals theassessment to the tax court, the departmentmay request a stay of action from the courtpending review of the report or return. If thedepartment:

(A) Accepts the filing of the report orreturn, the appeal shall be dismissed as moot.

(B) Rejects the report or return, the stayof action on the appeal shall be lifted.

(f) If the department accepts the filing ofa report or return, the department may re-duce the assessment issued under paragraph(a) of this subsection. A report or return filedunder this subsection that is accepted by thedepartment, whether or not the assessmenthas been reduced, shall be considered a re-port or return described in subsection (1) ofthis section and shall be subject to the pro-visions of this section, including but notlimited to examination and adjustment pur-suant to subsection (2) of this section.



(g) The department may refund paymentsmade with respect to a report or return filedand accepted pursuant to this subsection. Ifthe report or return is filed within threeyears of the due date for filing the report orreturn, excluding extensions, the refund shallbe made as provided by ORS 305.270 and314.415. If the report or return is not filedwithin three years of the due date for filingthe report or return, excluding extensions,the refund shall be limited to payments re-ceived within the two-year period ending onthe date the report or return is received bythe department and payments received afterthe date the report or return is received bythe department. Interest shall be paid at therate established under ORS 305.220 for eachmonth or fraction of a month from the datethe report or return is received by the de-partment to the time the refund is made.

(11) Mailing of notice to the person atthe person’s last-known address shall consti-tute the giving of notice as prescribed in thissection.

(12) If a return is filed with the depart-ment accompanied by payment of less thanthe amount of tax shown on or from the in-formation on the return as due, the differ-ence between the tax and the amountsubmitted is considered as assessed on thedue date of the report or return (determinedwith regard to any extension of time grantedfor the filing of the return) or the date thereport or return is filed, whichever is later.For purposes of this subsection, the amountof tax shown on or from the information onthe return as due shall be reduced by theamount of any part of the tax that is paid onor before the due date prescribed for pay-ment of the tax, and by any credits againstthe tax that are claimed on the return. If theamount required to be shown as tax on a re-turn is less than the amount shown as taxon the return, this subsection shall be ap-plied by substituting the lesser amount.

(13) Every deficiency shall bear interestat the rate established under ORS 305.220 foreach month or fraction of a month computedfrom the due date of the return to date ofpayment. If the return was falsely preparedand filed with intent to evade the tax, apenalty equal to 100 percent of the deficiencyshall be assessed and collected. All paymentsreceived shall be credited first to penalty,then to interest accrued, and then to tax due.

(14) If the deficiency is paid in full beforea notice of assessment is issued, the depart-ment is not required to send a notice of as-sessment, and the tax shall be considered asassessed as of the date which is 30 days fromthe date of the notice of deficiency or thedate the deficiency is paid, whichever is thelater. A partial payment of the deficiency

shall constitute only a credit to the accountof the person assessed. Assessments andbillings of taxes shall be final after the expi-ration of the appeal period specified in ORS305.280, except to the extent that an appealis allowed under ORS 305.280 (3) followingpayment of the tax.

(15) Appeal may be taken to the tax courtfrom any notice of assessment. The pro-visions of this chapter with respect to ap-peals to the tax court apply to anydeficiency, penalty or interest assessed. [1977c.870 §3; 1981 c.724 §3; 1982 s.s.1 c.16 §5; 1985 c.266 §4;1987 c.512 §2; 1989 c.414 §4; 1993 c.726 §4; 1995 c.650 §27;1995 c.780 §3; 1997 c.99 §§26,27; 1999 c.224 §1; 1999 c.249§1; 1999 c.532 §1; 2001 c.76 §5; 2001 c.660 §21; 2005 c.94§19]

305.267 Extension of time to issue no-tice of deficiency or assessment. (1) As apart of its application for an order for theenforcement of a subpoena under ORS305.190 or for an answer to interrogatoriesunder ORS 305.195, the Department of Re-venue may request the Oregon Tax Court foran order extending the time within whichthe department may issue a notice of defi-ciency or assessment under ORS 305.265.

(2) The tax court or the Supreme Courtupon appeal, shall extend the time for a pe-riod ending 90 days after:

(a) Delivery to the department of thedocuments and information ordered producedunder the subpoena; or

(b) Delivery to the department of the an-swers ordered to be made to the department’sinterrogatories. [1985 c.266 §2]

305.270 Refund of excess tax paid;claim procedure. (1) If the amount of thetax shown as due on a report or return ori-ginally filed with the Department of Revenuewith respect to a tax imposed under ORSchapter 118, 308, 308A, 310, 314, 316, 317, 318or 321, or collected pursuant to ORS 305.620,or as corrected by the department, is lessthan the amount theretofore paid, or if aperson files a claim for refund of any taxpaid to the department under such lawswithin the period specified in subsection (2)of this section, any excess tax paid shall berefunded by the department with interest asprovided in this section and ORS 314.415.

(2) The claim shall be made on a formprescribed by the department, except that anamended report or return showing a refunddue and filed within the time allowed by thissubsection for the filing of a claim for re-fund, shall constitute a claim for refund. Theclaim shall be filed within the period speci-fied in ORS 314.415 (2) for taxes imposed un-der ORS chapters 310, 314, 316, 317 and 318,or collected pursuant to ORS 305.620 (exceptwhere any applicable ordinance specifies an-other period), within the period specified in



ORS 118.100 (2) for taxes imposed under ORSchapter 118 and within two years of the pay-ment of any tax under ORS chapter 308,308A or 321.

(3) Upon receipt of a claim for refund, ororiginal report or return claiming a refund,the department shall either refund theamount requested or send to the claimant anotice of any proposed adjustment to the re-fund claim, stating the basis upon which theadjustment is made. A proposed adjustmentmay either increase or decrease the amountof the refund claim or result in the findingof a deficiency. If the proposed adjustmentresults in a determination by the departmentthat some amount is refundable, the depart-ment may send the claimant the adjustedamount with the notice.

(4)(a) The notice of proposed adjustmentshall be accompanied by a statement ex-plaining the claimant’s right to make writtenobjections to the refund adjustment, theclaimant’s right to request a conference andthe procedure for requesting a conference.The statement, and an accompanying form,shall also explain that conference determi-nations are routinely transmitted via regularmail and that a claimant desiring to haveconference determinations transmitted bycertified mail may do so by indicating on theform the claimant’s preference for certifiedmail and by returning the form with theclaimant’s written objections as described inparagraph (b) of this subsection.

(b) The claimant may, within 30 days ofthe date of the notice of proposed adjust-ment, advise the department in writing ofobjections to the refund adjustment and mayrequest a conference with the department,which shall be held within one year of thedate of the notice. The department shall no-tify the claimant of a time and place for theconference, and appoint a conference officerto meet with the claimant for an informaldiscussion of the claim. After the conference,the conference officer shall send a determi-nation of the matter to the claimant. Thedetermination letter shall be sent by regularmail, or by certified mail if the claimant hasindicated a preference for transmission of thedetermination by certified mail. The depart-ment shall issue either a notice of refunddenial or payment of any amount found to berefundable, together with any applicable in-terest provided by this section. If the confer-ence officer determines that a deficiencyexists, the department shall issue a notice ofassessment.

(5) If no conference is requested, and theadjustments have not resulted in the findingof a deficiency, the following shall apply:

(a) If written objections have been madeby the claimant, the department shall con-

sider the objections, determine any issuesraised and send the claimant a notice of re-fund denial or payment of any amount foundto be refundable, together with any interestprovided by this section.

(b) If no written objections are made, thenotice of any proposed adjustment shall befinal after the period for requesting a con-ference or filing written objections has ex-pired.

(6) If no conference is requested, and thenotice of proposed adjustment has asserted adeficiency, the department shall consider anyobjections made by the person denied the re-fund, make a determination of any issuesraised, pay any refunds found due, with ap-plicable interest, or assess any deficiency andmail a notice thereof within one year fromthe date of the notice of deficiency, unlessan extension of time is agreed upon as de-scribed in subsection (7) of this section.

(7) If, prior to the expiration of any pe-riod of time prescribed in subsection (6) ofthis section for giving of notice of assess-ment, the department and the person consentin writing to the deficiency being assessedafter the expiration of such prescribed pe-riod, such deficiency may be assessed at anytime prior to the expiration of the periodagreed upon. The period so agreed upon maybe extended by subsequent agreements inwriting made before the expiration of theperiod agreed upon.

(8) If the department refunds the amountrequested as provided in subsection (3) ofthis section, without examination or audit ofthe refund claim, the department shall givenotice of this to the claimant at the time ofmaking the refund. Thereafter, the depart-ment shall have one year in which to exam-ine or audit the refund claim, and send thenotice of proposed adjustment provided for insubsection (3) of this section, in addition toany time permitted in ORS 314.410 or314.415.

(9) The failure to hold a requested con-ference within the one-year period prescribedin subsection (4) of this section shall not in-validate any assessment of deficiency madewithin the one-year period pursuant to sub-section (8) of this section or within any ex-tension of time made pursuant to subsection(7) of this section, but shall invalidate anyassessment of interest or penalties attribut-able to the deficiency. After an assessmenthas been made, the department and the per-son assessed may still hold a conferencewithin 90 days from the date of assessment.If a conference is held, the 90-day period un-der ORS 305.280 (2) shall run from the dateof the conference officer’s written determi-nation of the issues.



(10) The claimant may appeal any noticeof proposed adjustment, refund denial or no-tice of assessment in the manner provided inORS 305.404 to 305.560. The failure to filewritten objections or to request or have aconference shall not affect the rights of ap-peal so provided. All notices and determi-nations shall set forth rights of appeal. [1977c.870 §4; 1979 c.691 §1; 1985 c.61 §1; 1985 c.266 §5; 1987c.512 §3; 1989 c.626 §2; 1991 c.67 §75; 1995 c.650 §28; 1997c.99 §§29,30; 1999 c.224 §2; 1999 c.314 §89; 2005 c.48 §2]

305.271 Refund transfer or assignmentprohibited; exception. Except as providedin ORS 305.690 to 305.753 (relating to chari-table checkoffs), no refund, claim of refundor right to a refund of taxes paid under thelaws of this state shall be transferable or as-signable by the taxpayer unless authorizedby rule of the Department of Revenue. [1997c.84 §5]

305.275 Persons who may appeal dueto acts or omissions. (1) Any person mayappeal under this subsection to the magis-trate division of the Oregon Tax Court asprovided in ORS 305.280 and 305.560, if allof the following criteria are met:

(a) The person must be aggrieved by andaffected by an act, omission, order or deter-mination of:

(A) The Department of Revenue in itsadministration of the revenue and tax lawsof this state;

(B) A county board of property tax ap-peals other than an order of the board;

(C) A county assessor or other countyofficial, including but not limited to the de-nial of a claim for exemption, the denial ofspecial assessment under a special assess-ment statute, or the denial of a claim forcancellation of assessment; or

(D) A tax collector.(b) The act, omission, order or determi-

nation must affect the property of the personmaking the appeal or property for which theperson making the appeal holds an interestthat obligates the person to pay taxes im-posed on the property. As used in this para-graph, an interest that obligates the personto pay taxes includes a contract, lease orother intervening instrumentality.

(c) There is no other statutory right ofappeal for the grievance.

(2) Except as otherwise provided by law,any person having a statutory right of appealunder the revenue and tax laws of the statemay appeal to the tax court as provided inORS 305.404 to 305.560.

(3) If a taxpayer may appeal to the boardof property tax appeals under ORS 309.100,then no appeal may be allowed under thissection. The appeal under this section isfrom an order of the board as a result of the

appeal filed under ORS 309.100 or from anorder of the board that certain corrections,additions to or changes in the roll be made.

(4) A county assessor who is aggrievedby an order of the county board of propertytax appeals may appeal from the order asprovided in this section, ORS 305.280 and305.560. [1977 c.870 §5; 1985 c.85 §10; 1987 c.512 §4; 1991c.459 §12; 1993 c.270 §7; 1995 c.79 §107; 1995 c.650 §7; 1997c.541 §§52,52a,53,53a; 1999 c.314 §62; 1999 c.340 §2; 2011c.111 §3]

305.280 Time for filing appeals; denialof appeal. (1) Except as otherwise providedin this section, an appeal under ORS 305.275(1) or (2) shall be filed within 90 days afterthe act, omission, order or determination be-comes actually known to the person, but inno event later than one year after the act oromission has occurred, or the order or de-termination has been made. An appeal underORS 308.505 to 308.665 shall be filed within90 days after the date the order is issuedunder ORS 308.584 (3). An appeal from asupervisory order or other order or determi-nation of the Department of Revenue shallbe filed within 90 days after the date a copyof the order or determination or notice of theorder or determination has been served uponthe appealing party by mail as provided inORS 306.805.

(2) An appeal under ORS 323.416 or323.623 or from any notice of assessment orrefund denial issued by the Department ofRevenue with respect to a tax imposed underORS chapter 118, 308, 308A, 310, 314, 316,317, 318, 321 or this chapter, or collectedpursuant to ORS 305.620, shall be filedwithin 90 days after the date of the notice.An appeal from a proposed adjustment underORS 305.270 shall be filed within 90 days af-ter the date the notice of adjustment is final.

(3) Notwithstanding subsection (2) of thissection, an appeal from a notice of assess-ment of taxes imposed under ORS chapter314, 316, 317 or 318 may be filed within twoyears after the date the amount of tax, asshown on the notice and including appropri-ate penalties and interest, is paid.

(4) Except as provided in subsection (2)of this section or as specifically provided inORS chapter 321, an appeal to the tax courtunder ORS chapter 321 or from an order ofa county board of property tax appeals shallbe filed within 30 days after the date of thenotice of the determination made by the de-partment or date of mailing of the order, dateof publication of notice of the order, date theorder is personally delivered to the taxpayeror date of mailing of the notice of the orderto the taxpayer, whichever is applicable.

(5) If the tax court denies an appeal madepursuant to this section on the grounds thatit does not meet the requirements of this



section or ORS 305.275 or 305.560, the taxcourt shall issue a written decision rejectingthe petition and shall set forth in the deci-sion the reasons the tax court considered theappeal to be defective. [1977 c.870 §6; 1979 c.687§1; 1985 c.61 §2; 1991 c.67 §76; 1993 c.270 §8; 1995 c.650§8; 1997 c.99 §§32,33; 1997 c.541 §§55,56; 1999 c.249 §2; 1999c.314 §90; 1999 c.340 §3; 2003 c.804 §63a; 2007 c.616 §11;2009 c.23 §1]

305.283 [1993 c.270 §11; repealed by 1995 c.650 §114]

305.285 Correction of tax and assess-ment rolls for subsequent tax years dur-ing pendency of appeal. Whenever anyproperty tax matter is appealed to the De-partment of Revenue, Oregon Tax Court orSupreme Court, and during the pendency ofthe appeal, no appeal is filed for a subse-quent year or years, the taxpayer may, on orbefore December 15 of the year in which afinal determination is made by the last bodyor tribunal to pass on the matter or withinsix months of such final determination,whichever is later, request the department toorder the officer in charge of the rolls for theintervening years to correct all tax and as-sessment rolls for those years with respectto the property affected by such final deter-mination. The department may require ahearing and the submission of evidence nec-essary to determine the correction, if any,that should be made for each interveningyear in view of the holding in such final de-termination. Notwithstanding any time limitin ORS 305.288 (1) to (6), 306.115 or 311.205,the department shall order such correctionas it deems necessary. [1977 c.870 §7; 1983 c.605§2; 1993 c.18 §64]

305.286 Deferred billing credit in prop-erty tax appeals; conditions; procedure;interest. (1)(a) Whenever any property valueor claim for exemption or cancellation of aproperty tax assessment is appealed, if thedollar amount in dispute exceeds $1 million,the assessor of the county in which theproperty is located may order the officer incharge of the assessment and tax roll to in-clude a deferred billing credit in the propertytax statement of the property or in a sepa-rate notice of deferred billing.

(b) If the appeal relates to property as-sessed under ORS 308.505 to 308.665, the as-sessor of each county to which a portion ofthe value is apportioned may order inclusionof a deferred billing credit under paragraph(a) of this subsection:

(A) Even if the dollar amount in disputewith respect to the county is $1 million orless; and

(B) Independently of the assessor of anyother county.

(2) For purposes of this section, the dol-lar amount in dispute means the dollar

amount of real market value or specially as-sessed value in dispute:

(a) For all tax years to which the appealrelates and any tax year during the pendencyof the appeal; and

(b)(A) For all property of a taxpayer thatis the subject of an appeal, regardless ofwhether the property is the subject of sepa-rate appeals; or

(B) For property that is assessed underORS 308.505 to 308.665, for all current ap-peals relating to the property or to a unit ofwhich the property is a part.

(3) For purposes of this section, thecounty assessor shall determine a deferredbilling credit as the dollar amount necessaryto address the risk presented to the countyby an appeal with respect to the tax yearthat is the subject of the property tax state-ment of the property, or of the separate no-tice of deferred billing, in which the deferredbilling credit is included.

(4) The county assessor may order issu-ance of a separate notice of deferred billingpursuant to this section at any time duringa tax year to which an appeal relates andany tax year during the pendency of the ap-peal.

(5)(a) The portion of a deferred billingcredit representing tax amounts that havebeen paid shall be refunded without interestunder ORS 311.806 as soon as practicable.

(b) Any amount paid after notice of a de-ferred billing credit in a property tax state-ment or a separate notice of deferred billingis mailed that exceeds the amount due afterapplying the deferred billing credit shall bereturned to the taxpayer without interest.

(6) Inclusion of a deferred billing creditin a property tax statement or a separatenotice of deferred billing does not give riseto a cause of action other than an action toensure proper application of the provisionsof this section.

(7)(a) If a deferred billing credit is in-cluded in a property tax statement or a sep-arate notice of deferred billing, tax amountscredited may not be considered delinquentduring the period beginning with the inclu-sion of the credit and ending with the finalresolution of the appeal to which the creditrelates.

(b) During the period described in para-graph (a) of this subsection, interest may notbe charged or collected on tax amounts de-scribed in paragraph (a) of this subsection.

(8) If a refund is ordered upon final reso-lution of the appeal to which a deferred bill-ing credit relates, interest shall be paid asprovided in ORS 311.812 for the period be-ginning on the later of the payment date or



due date and ending on the date of refund,on:

(a) The amount refunded pursuant tosubsection (5)(a) of this section that is af-firmed by order upon final resolution of theappeal; and

(b) The amount by which the refund ex-ceeds the deferred billing credit.

(9) If the final resolution of the appealresults in additional taxes due, the countyassessor shall mail to the taxpayer as soonas practicable a notice containing theamount of the taxes due and the informationspecified in subsection (10) of this section.

(10)(a) Additional taxes due upon finalresolution of the appeal are payable withoutinterest and after application of the discountof three percent under ORS 311.505 if paidwithin 45 days following the date on whichthe county assessor mails the notice requiredunder subsection (9) of this section.

(b)(A) If the additional taxes are not paidwithin the period specified in paragraph (a)of this subsection, except as provided in sub-section (7) of this section, the additionaltaxes shall be considered for all purposes ofcollection and enforcement of payment ashaving been delinquent on the date the taxeswould normally have become delinquent ifthe additional taxes had been timely ex-tended on the roll.

(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A) ofthis paragraph, interest on the additionaltaxes shall be computed beginning on the46th day after the date on which the countyassessor mails the notice required undersubsection (9) of this section.

(11) The county assessor shall provide aquarterly report to the governing body of thecounty showing the status of all current de-ferred billing credits and the status of theappeals to which the credits relate.

(12) As used in this section:(a) “Property tax statement” means the

document described in ORS 311.250.(b) “Separate notice of deferred billing”

means a notice to the taxpayer, other thanthe property tax statement, that the pro-visions of this section apply and stating theamount of the deferred billing credit and theamount of refund, if any. [2011 c.112 §1]


305.287 Determination of real marketvalue of property tax account or compo-nents. Whenever a party appeals the realmarket value of one or more components ofa property tax account, any other party tothe appeal may seek a determination from

the body or tribunal of the total real marketvalue of the property tax account, the realmarket value of any or all of the other com-ponents of the account, or both. [2011 c.397 §2]

305.288 Valuation changes for resi-dential property substantial value erroror for good and sufficient cause. (1) Thetax court shall order a change or correctionapplicable to a separate assessment of prop-erty to the assessment and tax roll for thecurrent tax year or for either of the two taxyears immediately preceding the current taxyear, or for any or all of those tax years, ifall of the following conditions exist:

(a) For the tax year to which the changeor correction is applicable, the property wasor is used primarily as a dwelling (or is va-cant) and was and is a single-family dwelling,a multifamily dwelling of not more than fourunits, a condominium unit, a manufacturedstructure or a floating home.

(b) The change or correction requested isa change in value for the property for the taxyear and it is asserted in the request anddetermined by the tax court that the differ-ence between the real market value of theproperty for the tax year and the real marketvalue on the assessment and tax roll for thetax year is equal to or greater than 20 per-cent.

(2) If the tax court finds that the condi-tions needed to order a change or correctionunder subsection (1) of this section exist, thecourt may order a change or correction inthe maximum assessed value of the propertyin addition to the change or correction in thereal market value of the property.

(3) The tax court may order a change orcorrection applicable to a separate assess-ment of property to the assessment or taxroll for the current tax year and for eitherof the two tax years immediately precedingthe current tax year if, for the year to whichthe change or correction is applicable, theassessor or taxpayer has no statutory rightof appeal remaining and the tax court deter-mines that good and sufficient cause existsfor the failure by the assessor or taxpayer topursue the statutory right of appeal.

(4) Before ordering a change or cor-rection to the assessment or tax roll undersubsection (3) of this section, the tax courtmay determine whether any of the conditionsexist in a particular case. If the tax courtdetermines that one of the conditions speci-fied does exist, the tax court shall hold ahearing to determine whether to order achange or correction to the roll.

(5) For purposes of this section:(a) “Current tax year” has the meaning

given the term under ORS 306.115.(b) “Good and sufficient cause”:



(A) Means an extraordinary circumstancethat is beyond the control of the taxpayer,or the taxpayer’s agent or representative,and that causes the taxpayer, agent or rep-resentative to fail to pursue the statutoryright of appeal; and

(B) Does not include inadvertence, over-sight, lack of knowledge, hardship or reli-ance on misleading information provided byany person except an authorized tax officialproviding the relevant misleading informa-tion.

(6) The remedy provided under this sec-tion is in addition to all other remedies pro-vided by law.

(7) As used in subsections (1) to (6) ofthis section, “manufactured structure” hasthe meaning given that term in ORS 446.561.[Formerly 306.116; 1999 c.767 §1; subsection (7) of 2005Edition enacted as 2003 c.655 §47a; 2009 c.33 §6]

305.290 Extension of time for makingassessment due to bankruptcy. If the De-partment of Revenue is prohibited from mak-ing an assessment in a case under title 11 ofthe United States Code, the period for mak-ing the assessment shall not expire until oneyear after the prohibition is terminated. [1985c.761 §12]

305.295 Cancellation of tax, penalty orinterest; rules. (1) Notwithstanding ORS305.265 (14), the Department of Revenue mayin its discretion, cancel any tax, penalty orinterest or any portion thereof, for which anassessment has become final, if any of thefollowing conditions exist:

(a) The assessment is based upon an as-serted tax deficiency calculated upon incomethat the state is expressly prohibited fromtaxing under the Oregon Constitution or thelaws of the United States.

(b) The assessment is based upon an as-serted tax deficiency arising from an errormade by the department when reviewing thereturn during processing, and the informa-tion necessary to correct the error wasproperly reported in the return as filed asdetermined by the department.

(c) The assessment is against an em-ployer for withholding tax, with respect toany full calendar quarter during which theemployer had no payroll and had perma-nently ceased doing business. An employershall not be considered to have ceased doingbusiness if the employer has changed itsname and the business activity continuesunder the same beneficial ownership.

(d) Pursuant to rules adopted by the de-partment, the department determines that:

(A) Reasonable doubt exists as to thetaxpayer’s liability for the assessment;

(B) The taxpayer has presented documen-tation that the department considers suffi-cient to support canceling the tax, penaltyor interest, or any portion thereof; and

(C) The taxpayer has complied with allapplicable reporting and filing requirementsfor all tax years for which the departmentmaintains records.

(2) When taxes are canceled, in whole orin part, under subsection (1) of this section,the department shall make an order cancel-ing the tax, penalties and interest. The ordershall be filed in the records of the depart-ment. Upon making the order, the depart-ment also shall cause to be canceled orreleased any lien of record in the countieswhich may have been filed and enteredtherein.

(3) Before the department may cancel anassessment under subsection (1) of this sec-tion, the taxpayer to whom the assessment isissued shall provide any information the de-partment deems necessary to verify the ex-istence of one of the conditions under whichthe assessment may be canceled.

(4) Notwithstanding ORS 314.415, the de-partment may refund any payments madewith respect to an assessment described insubsection (1) of this section. Interest shallbe paid at the rate established under ORS305.220, for each month or fraction of amonth during a period beginning on the datethe taxpayer requests the refund.

(5) This section applies to any unpaid as-sessment described in subsection (1) of thissection whether issued before or after Sep-tember 27, 1987, and to any assessment forwhich payment is made on or after Septem-ber 27, 1987.

(6) A taxpayer may appeal denial of a re-quest for cancellation of assessment or re-fund to the Director of the Department ofRevenue. The decision of the director is finaland may not be appealed. [1987 c.758 §16; 1997c.100 §1]

305.305 Procedure where deficiencybased on federal or other state audit re-port; effect of appeal; interest suspen-sion. (1) As used in this section, “appeal”means an appeal to the Internal RevenueService or any federal court or an appeal toanother state’s taxing authority or any statecourt having jurisdiction over the otherstate’s tax matters that are the subject of theappeal.

(2) If a deficiency is based wholly or inpart upon an Internal Revenue Service re-venue agent’s report made upon any audit oradjustment of the person’s federal income taxreturn or upon an audit report of anotherstate’s taxing authority, the following proce-dures shall apply:



(a) If the person has filed a timely appealfrom the deficiency asserted by the serviceor other state taxing authority, the personmay file proof of the appeal with the De-partment of Revenue. If proof of the appealis received before the tax is assessed, thedeficiency shall be assessed without penaltyfor failure to pay the tax at the time the taxbecame due.

(b) If the department assesses the defi-ciency before receipt of proof of the filing ofa timely appeal, the person may file the proofwith the department. If the proof is filed af-ter the tax has been assessed with a penaltyfor failure to pay the tax at the time the taxbecame due, the penalty shall not be waived.

(3) Notwithstanding any other provisionof law, filing of proof of a timely appeal un-der subsection (2) of this section shall extendthe time for filing a complaint or petitionwith the tax court in accordance with thissubsection. The person shall notify the de-partment in writing within 30 days after theappeal is finally resolved. The departmentshall review the issues raised by the appealand shall make a determination of the effectupon the person’s state income or excise taxliabilities. The department shall then issue arefund, notice of denial of refund or noticeof assessment, as appropriate, to the person.If the person disagrees with the department’saction, the person may file a complaint orpetition with the tax court within 90 daysafter the date of the department’s action asprovided under ORS 305.404 to 305.560. Not-withstanding ORS 314.835 or any other lawrelating to confidentiality, the departmentmay notify the magistrate division of the taxcourt if proof of a timely appeal is filed withthe department or if the department deter-mines that an appeal has been finally re-solved.

(4) Except as provided in ORS 314.440 (2),when the department receives proof of atimely appeal, the department shall suspendaction to collect the deficiency until the is-sues are resolved.

(5) If interest imposed by the federalgovernment on a federal deficiency or part-nership settlement agreement has been sus-pended under section 6601(c) of the InternalRevenue Code, interest imposed on a corre-sponding deficiency determined under ORS305.265 and this section shall also be sus-pended. The suspension of interest imposedunder ORS 305.265 shall be effective as ofthe date the federal interest is suspended andfor the duration for which the federal inter-est is suspended.

(6) Except as provided in ORS 314.415 (6),the provisions of this section shall constitutethe exclusive remedy of a person whose no-

tice of deficiency is based wholly or in partupon a federal revenue agent’s report or theaudit report of another state’s taxing au-thority. [1989 c.414 §6; 1995 c.650 §29; 1997 c.325 §7;1999 c.74 §2; 1999 c.90 §28a; 2001 c.660 §17; 2005 c.48 §3]

305.330 Tax liability of reorganizedbusiness entity. (1) As used in this section,“reorganized business entity”:

(a) Means a business entity that, whileoperating substantially the same business asanother entity that incurred a liability fortaxes, interest or penalties administered bythe Department of Revenue, has been con-verted to a different form of business entityfrom that of the entity that incurred the li-ability or has changed ownership from thatof the entity that incurred the liability; and

(b) Does not include a business entitythat is converted to a different form or thathas changed ownership solely because of atransfer of assets or because of a transfer ofan interest of an investor who has no rightto manage the business entity, including, butnot limited to, the interest of:

(A) A person that is solely a minorityshareholder in a corporation;

(B) A member of a manager-managedlimited liability company; or

(C) A limited partner of a limited part-nership that does not participate in the con-trol of the business of the limitedpartnership.

(2) The department may transfer the li-ability for taxes, interest or penalties thatare administered and collected by the de-partment from the business entity that in-curred the liability to a reorganized businessentity and may assess those amounts againstthe reorganized business entity.

(3) Factors the department may considerwhen determining if a business entity is areorganized business entity include, but arenot limited to, whether the business entity:

(a) Operates from the same physical lo-cation as did the taxpayer owing the debt.

(b) Provides the same services or manu-factures the same products as did the tax-payer owing the debt.

(c) Has one or more of the same:(A) Corporate directors or officers as did

the taxpayer owing the debt.(B) Owners or holders of a direct or in-

direct interest in the business entity as didthe taxpayer owing the debt.

(4) Following the determination to trans-fer a liability to a reorganized business en-tity under subsections (2) and (3) of thissection and notwithstanding ORS 314.835,314.840 or 314.991, the department shall senda notice of liability to the reorganized busi-



ness entity stating the amount owed by thereorganized business entity.

(5) Within 30 days from the date of noticeof liability given under subsection (4) of thissection, the reorganized business entity shall:

(a) Pay the liability stated in the noticeand any other penalty or interest related tothat liability; or

(b) Advise the department in writing ofobjections to the notice of liability and, ifdesired, request a conference. A conferencerequested under this paragraph shall be gov-erned by those provisions of ORS 305.265that govern a conference requested from anotice of deficiency under ORS 305.265. Not-withstanding ORS 314.835, 314.840 or 314.991,the department may disclose any informationto the reorganized business entity that thedepartment would be authorized to discloseto the business entity that incurred the li-ability.

(6) After a determination of the issuesraised in written objections made under sub-section (5) of this section or after a confer-ence, if a conference was requested, thedepartment shall mail the reorganized busi-ness entity a letter affirming, canceling oradjusting the notice of liability. If the entityremains liable for an outstanding amountunder this section, the letter shall be con-sidered a notice of assessment and, within 90days from the date the letter is mailed, theentity shall:

(a) Pay the amount set forth in the noticeof assessment; or

(b) Appeal to the Oregon Tax Court inthe manner provided for an appeal from anotice of assessment.

(7) If neither payment nor written ob-jections to the notice of liability sent undersubsection (4) of this section is received bythe department within 30 days after the dateof the notice of liability, the notice of liabil-ity becomes final. The reorganized businessentity may appeal the notice to the tax courtwithin 90 days after the date the notice be-came final, in the manner provided for anappeal from a notice of assessment. [2007 c.463§2]

305.350 [1977 c.790 §1; repealed by 1985 c.105 §1]305.355 [1977 c.790 §2; repealed by 1985 c.105 §1]305.360 [1977 c.790 §3; repealed by 1985 c.105 §1]305.365 [1977 c.790 §4; repealed by 1985 c.105 §1]

305.375 Disposition of penalties; pay-ment of refunds. The amount of any pen-alty collected under this chapter and ORSchapter 314 or 316 shall be paid over to theState Treasurer in the manner provided forincome taxes in ORS 316.502. Any penaltyamount required to be refunded may be paidout of the working balance retained under

ORS 316.502 (2) or may be paid in the man-ner provided in ORS 305.760. [1987 c.843 §5]

(License Lists)305.380 Definitions for ORS 305.385. As

used in ORS 305.385:(1) “Agency” means any department,

board, commission, division or authority ofthe State of Oregon, or any political subdivi-sion of this state which imposes a local taxadministered by the Department of Revenueunder ORS 305.620.

(2) “License” means any written author-ity required by law or ordinance as a pre-requisite to the conduct of a business, tradeor profession.

(3) “Provider” means any person whocontracts to supply goods, services or realestate space to an agency.

(4) “Tax” means a state tax imposed byORS 320.005 to 320.150 and 403.200 to 403.250and ORS chapters 118, 314, 316, 317, 318, 321and 323 and the elderly rental assistanceprogram under ORS 310.630 to 310.706 andlocal taxes administered by the Departmentof Revenue under ORS 305.620. [1987 c.843 §6;1997 c.99 §35; 1997 c.170 §16; 2005 c.94 §21]

305.385 Agencies to supply licenseeand contractor lists; contents; effect ofdepartment determination on taxpayerstatus of licensee or contractor; rules. (1)Upon request of the Department of Revenue,an agency issuing or renewing a license toconduct a business, trade or profession shallannually, on or before March 1, supply thedepartment with a list of specified licensesissued or renewed by the agency during thepreceding calendar year.

(2) Upon request of the department, anagency shall annually, on or before March1, supply the department with a list of speci-fied persons contracting with the agency toprovide goods, services or real estate spaceto the agency during the preceding calendaryear.

(3) The lists required by subsections (1)and (2) of this section shall contain thename, address, Social Security or federalemployer identification number of each li-censee or provider or such other informationas the department may by rule require.

(4)(a) If the department determines thatany licensee or provider has neglected or re-fused to file any return or to pay any tax andthat such person has not filed in good faitha petition before the department contestingthe tax, and the department has been unableto obtain payment of the tax through othermethods of collection, the Director of theDepartment of Revenue may, notwithstand-ing ORS 118.525, 314.835 or 314.840 or any



similar provision of law, notify the agencyand the person in writing.

(b) Upon receipt of such notice, theagency shall refuse to reissue, renew or ex-tend any license, contract or agreement untilthe agency receives a certificate issued bythe department that the person is in goodstanding with respect to any returns due andtaxes payable to the department as of thedate of the certificate.

(c) Upon the written request of the di-rector and after a hearing and notice to thelicensee as required under any applicableprovision of law, the agency shall suspendthe person’s license if the agency finds thatthe returns and taxes have not been filed orpaid and that the licensee has not filed ingood faith a petition before the departmentcontesting the tax and the department hasbeen unable to obtain payment of the taxthrough other methods of collection. For thepurpose of the agency’s findings, the writtenrepresentation to that effect by the depart-ment to the agency shall constitute primafacie evidence of the person’s failure to filereturns or pay the tax. The department shallhave the right to intervene in any licensesuspension proceeding.

(d) Any license suspended under thissubsection shall not be reissued or reneweduntil the agency receives a certificate issuedby the department that the licensee is ingood standing with respect to any returnsdue and taxes payable to the department asof the date of the certificate.

(5) The department may enter into an in-stallment payment agreement with a licenseeor provider with respect to any unpaid tax,penalty and interest. The agreement shallprovide for interest on the outstandingamount at the rate prescribed by ORS305.220. The department may issue a provi-sional certificate of good standing pursuantto subsection (4)(b) and (d) of this sectionwhich shall remain in effect so long as thelicensee or provider fully complies with theterms of the installment agreement. Failureby the licensee or provider to fully complywith the terms of the installment agreementshall render the agreement and the provi-sional certificate of good standing null andvoid, unless the department determines thatthe failure was due to reasonable cause. Ifthe department determines that the failurewas not due to reasonable cause, the totalamount of the tax, penalty and interest shallbe immediately due and payable, and the de-partment shall notify any affected agencythat the licensee or provider is not in goodstanding. The agency shall then take appro-priate action under subsection (4)(b) and (d)of this section.

(6) No contract or other agreement forthe purpose of providing goods, services orreal estate space to any agency shall be en-tered into, renewed or extended with anyperson, unless the person certifies in writing,under penalty of perjury, that the person is,to the best of the person’s knowledge, not inviolation of any tax laws described in ORS305.380 (4).

(7) The certification under subsection (6)of this section shall be required for eachcontract and renewal or extension of a con-tract or may be provided on an annual basis.A certification shall not be required for acontract if the consideration for the goods,services or real estate space provided underthe contract is no more than $1,000.

(8)(a) The requirements of the certifica-tion under subsection (6) of this section shallbe subject to the rules adopted by the de-partment in accordance with this section.

(b) The department may by rule exemptcertain contracts from the requirements ofsubsection (6) of this section. [1987 c.843 §7; 1989c.656 §1; 1997 c.99 §36]

(Temporary provisions relating to pilotproject requiring tax compliance as

condition of occupational andprofessional licensing)

Note: Sections 2 and 4, chapter 576, Oregon Laws2009, provide:

Sec. 2. (1) The Department of Revenue may, inconjunction with state agencies, boards or commissionsthat issue occupational licenses or licenses for theprivilege of engaging in an occupation or professionwithin this state, develop and implement a pilot projectthat requires, as a condition of issuance or renewal ofa license, licensees to demonstrate compliance with thefollowing, as applicable:

(a) The personal income tax laws of this state, in-cluding the withholding laws in ORS 316.162 to 316.221.

(b) The corporate excise or income tax laws of thisstate.

(c) The provisions of ORS 323.005 to 323.482 or323.500 to 323.645.

(2) Any state agency, board or commission thatparticipates in the pilot project authorized under sub-section (1) of this section may suspend, revoke or refuseto issue or renew a license if the department determinesthat the licensee has failed to demonstrate or maintaintax compliance as provided in this section.

(3) Notwithstanding ORS 314.835 and 314.840, thedepartment may disclose to a state agency, board orcommission that requires tax compliance as a conditionof issuance or renewal of a license under subsection (1)of this section whether an individual or corporation isin compliance.

(4) In determining compliance for purposes of thissection, the department may consider whether the indi-vidual or corporation:

(a) Has not filed required returns or reports withrespect to taxes imposed by ORS chapter 316 or 317,whichever is applicable, for any of the three tax yearsimmediately preceding a year for which a tax return orreport was required to be filed;



(b) Has not filed required reports with respect totaxes imposed under ORS 323.005 to 323.482 or 323.500to 323.645 for any of the three calendar years imme-diately preceding a year in which a report was requiredto be filed;

(c) After all appeal rights, if any, have expired, hasfailed to:

(A) Pay any tax within 30 days after the date of theassessment and is still delinquent on any payments due;

(B) Enter into an approved payment plan within 60days after the date of the assessment of the tax; or

(C) Follow the terms of an approved payment planand is still delinquent on any payments due; or

(d) Has been convicted of a criminal offense relatedto the personal income tax laws of this state, the cor-porate excise and income tax laws of this state or theprovisions of ORS 323.005 to 323.482 or 323.500 to323.645, whichever are applicable.

(5) The department may enter into agreements withany state agency, board or commission that participatesin the pilot project under subsection (1) of this sectionin order to assist in the administration of the tax com-pliance requirement.

(6) Participation in the pilot project authorizedunder subsection (1) of this section is limited to threestate agencies, boards or commissions. [2009 c.576 §2]

Sec. 4. Section 2 of this 2009 Act is repealed onJanuary 2, 2016. [2009 c.576 §4]

SUBPOENAS RELATING TOINDUSTRIAL PROPERTY

305.390 Subpoenas of records contain-ing information on industrial plant foruse to determine value of different in-dustrial plant. A subpoena for the produc-tion of records may be issued under ORS305.190 or 305.420 to the owner of an indus-trial plant, as defined in ORS 308.408, forpurposes of a proceeding involving the deter-mination of the value of a different industrialplant for ad valorem property taxation, onlyunder the following conditions:

(1) The information to be produced is tobe used to determine the value of a specificindustrial plant;

(2) The information to be produced is notavailable to the person or agency issuing thesubpoena from any public source; and

(3) The information to be produced islikely to improve the accuracy or reliabilityof the determination of value. [1993 c.353 §4]

305.392 Process for limiting scope ofthird-party subpoena. (1) This section ap-plies to subpoenas issued under ORS 305.190or 305.420 (4) to owners of industrial plants,as defined in ORS 308.408, for the productionof books, papers, correspondence or anyother documents to be used in a judicialproceeding that involves the determinationof the value of a different industrial plant,for purposes of ad valorem property taxation.The purpose of this section is to provide aprocess by which the parties may limit thescope of a subpoena for the production ofdocuments, if possible.

(2) Before any person or the Departmentof Revenue may issue a subpoena to whichthis section applies, the person or depart-ment shall give written notice to the personor agency to be subpoenaed that a subpoenawill be issued no sooner than 60 days afterthe date the notice is received. The noticeshall state the general nature of the docu-ments desired to be produced and the pur-pose for which they will be used. The noticeshall state that the person or agency to besubpoenaed may request an informal meetingwith the person or department giving noticeto identify the nature and form of documentsthe person or agency has and to verify theneed for the documents desired to beproduced.

(3) If the person or agency receiving anotice given under subsection (2) of this sec-tion requests an informal meeting as pro-vided in the notice, the person or departmentgiving notice shall meet with the person oragency before issuing the subpoena. If theparties can agree that only specific docu-ments need to be produced, the subpoenamay then be issued and shall be limited tothose documents.

(4) If the person or agency receiving anotice under subsection (2) of this sectiondoes not request a meeting, or if the partiescannot agree on the specific documents to beproduced, the person or department givingnotice may issue the subpoena on or afterthe date specified in the notice.

(5) A person or agency given notice un-der subsection (2) of this section may notseek relief from compliance with a subpoenaor for protection of documents to beproduced until a subpoena has been issued.[1993 c.353 §7; 1995 c.650 §84; 2005 c.345 §5]

305.394 When industrial plant ownermay choose not to produce informationsought by subpoena. (1) If the owner of anindustrial plant that is located outside thisstate is given notice under ORS 305.392, oris served with a subpoena for purposes ofappraisal of an industrial plant locatedwithin this state, the owner may choose notto produce any documents related to the in-come or expenses of the industrial plant thatare identified in the notice or the subpoena,if that information is described in ORS308.411 (8) as exempt from disclosure for anowner electing under ORS 308.411 (2).

(2) As used in this section, “industrialplant” has the meaning given in ORS308.408. [1993 c.353 §9]

305.396 Protection of confidentialityof industrial property information ob-tained by subpoena. (1) When the Depart-ment of Revenue or any person has obtainedinformation concerning industrial propertyby subpoena issued under ORS 305.190 or



305.420, and the provider of the informationhas designated the information as confiden-tial, the confidentiality of the informationshall be protected as provided in this section.

(2) If the department or any person inpossession of information described in sub-section (1) of this section intends to use thatinformation in a judicial proceeding, thecourt shall close the proceedings to anyoneother than representatives of the parties tothe proceeding at any time the confidentialinformation is presented as evidence. Thecourt shall limit the disclosure of the infor-mation to representatives of the parties tothe proceeding as provided in ORS 305.398.The court also shall seal those parts of therecord of the proceeding that contain confi-dential information. This subsection shallapply to proceedings on appeal from thecourt proceeding. [1993 c.353 §10; 1995 c.650 §85]

305.398 Disclosure and use of indus-trial property confidential informationobtained by third-party subpoena. (1)When the Department of Revenue or anyperson has obtained information concerningindustrial property by subpoena issued underORS 305.190 or 305.420, for use in a judicialproceeding concerning the value of a differ-ent industrial property, and the provider ofthe information has designated the informa-tion as confidential, access to that informa-tion shall be limited by an order of thejudicial body conducting the proceeding. Theorder shall specify the allowable uses of theconfidential information and establish theconditions under which disclosure may bemade to those individuals described in thissection.

(2) The confidential information may bedisclosed to the following individuals only:

(a) Counsel for the Department of Re-venue.

(b) Counsel of record for any party par-ticipating in the proceeding in which the in-formation is to be used.

(c) Employees of the Department of Re-venue who are assigned to perform an ap-praisal using the confidential information.

(d) Those experts or consultants for anyparty participating in the proceeding who arenot, have not previously been and are notanticipated to become directors, officers, em-ployees or business associates of the party,and who have been retained to provide tech-nical advice or testimony in the proceeding.

(3) Before disclosure of information de-scribed in this section, each individual towhom disclosure of confidential informationwill be made shall execute a written ac-knowledgment of the confidential nature ofthe information and consent to be bound bythe terms of the order of confidentiality,

subject to judicial penalties for contempt.Such an acknowledgment shall be executedby any person to whom access to confidentialinformation is actually given.

(4) A written record shall be maintainedby the Department of Revenue and any partyto whom disclosure is made of the specificmaterial disclosed and the identity of thoseindividuals to whom access has been given,including the name and title of the individ-uals and the date each was approved to begiven access.

(5) The documents, and any copies ofthem, shall be marked “confidential” or insome way identified to be subject to limitedaccess. Any copies of the original documentsshall be reproduced in a way that makesthem readily identifiable.

(6) At the conclusion of the proceeding,all documents subject to the provisions ofthis section shall be returned to the personor agency that originally produced them. Anycopies, abstracts or summaries of the infor-mation shall be destroyed, and their de-struction shall be verified by the party oragency that made the copies. [1993 c.353 §11;1995 c.650 §86]

305.400 Payment of costs of subpoenacompliance; determination of costs. (1)Any agency or person issuing a subpoenaunder ORS 305.190 or 305.420 for informationconcerning industrial property, shall pay thereasonable costs of compliance with the sub-poena incurred by the party responding tothe subpoena.

(2) Reasonable costs include the cost oflocating records, preparing copies of records,costs of postage, freight or delivery, the costof materials used to organize or contain re-cords and the cost of management review ofmaterial to be produced to determine com-pliance with the subpoena.

(3) Reasonable costs do not include thecost of duplicating records for the use of theperson producing the records or legal fees ormanagement costs incurred in resisting com-pliance with a subpoena. [1993 c.353 §12]

APPEALS OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY OR PLANTS

305.403 Appeal of value of principal orsecondary industrial property in taxcourt. (1) An appeal by a taxpayer dissatis-fied with the assessed or specially assessedvalue of land or improvements of a principalor secondary industrial property must bebrought in the tax court.

(2) An appeal under this section is takenby filing a complaint with the tax court inthe manner prescribed under ORS 305.560during the period following the date the tax



statements are mailed for the current taxyear and ending December 31.

(3)(a) The complaint shall be entitled inthe name of the person filing the complaintas plaintiff, and the Department of Revenueand the county assessor as defendants.

(b) In answering and defending againstthe allegations of the complaint:

(A) The department shall respond only tothose allegations that relate to the appraisalor assessment performed by the department;and

(B) The county assessor shall respondonly to those allegations that relate to theappraisal or assessment performed by thecounty assessor.

(c) The department and the county asses-sor shall both remain parties to a proceedingdescribed in this subsection unless eitherparty is dismissed by order of the court.

(4) Service of the complaint upon the de-partment and the county assessor shall beaccomplished by the clerk of the tax courtmailing a copy of the complaint to the Di-rector of the Department of Revenue and tothe county assessor.

(5) As used in this section, “principal in-dustrial property” and “secondary industrialproperty” have the meanings given the termsunder ORS 306.126 and include those proper-ties appraised by the department for advalorem property tax purposes. [1995 c.650 §82;1997 c.541 §58; 2005 c.225 §2; 2005 c.345 §15; 2011 c.111§1]

OREGON TAX COURT(General)

305.404 Oregon Tax Court; definitions;usage. Unless the context requires other-wise, as used in ORS 305.404 to 305.560 andother revenue and tax laws, “tax court” or“Oregon Tax Court” means the Oregon TaxCourt created under ORS 305.405. In an ap-propriate case, “tax court” may include ei-ther the regular division or the magistratedivision of the Oregon Tax Court, or both,or the judge or judges of the tax court or itsmagistrates or a combination. In a few in-stances, “tax court” may include the taxcourt clerk or other employees of the regularor magistrate division of the tax court. [1995c.650 §104]

305.405 Oregon Tax Court; creation;jurisdiction. As part of the judicial branchof state government, there is created a courtof justice to be known as the Oregon TaxCourt. The tax court, in cases within its ju-risdiction pursuant to ORS 305.410:

(1) Is a court of record and of generaljurisdiction, not limited, special or inferiorjurisdiction.

(2) Has the same powers as a circuitcourt.

(3) Has and may exercise all ordinary andextraordinary legal, equitable and provisionalremedies available in the circuit courts, aswell as such additional remedies as may beassigned to it. [1961 c.533 §1; 1965 c.6 §1]

305.410 Authority of court in tax caseswithin its jurisdiction; concurrent juris-diction; exclusive jurisdiction in certaincases. (1) Subject only to the provisions ofORS 305.445 relating to judicial review bythe Supreme Court and to subsection (2) ofthis section, the tax court shall be the sole,exclusive and final judicial authority for thehearing and determination of all questionsof law and fact arising under the tax laws ofthis state. For the purposes of this section,and except to the extent that they precludethe imposition of other taxes, the followingare not tax laws of this state:

(a) ORS chapter 577 relating to OregonBeef Council contributions.

(b) ORS 576.051 to 576.455 relating tocommodity commission assessments.

(c) ORS chapter 477 relating to fire pro-tection assessments.

(d) ORS chapters 731, 732, 733, 734, 737,742, 743, 743A, 744, 746, 748 and 750 relatingto insurance company fees and taxes.

(e) ORS chapter 473 relating to liquortaxes.

(f) ORS chapter 583 relating to milkmarketing, production or distribution fees.

(g) ORS chapter 825 relating to motorcarrier taxes.

(h) ORS chapter 319 relating to motorvehicle and aircraft fuel taxes.

(i) ORS title 59 relating to motor vehicleand motor vehicle operators’ license fees andORS title 39 relating to boat licenses.

(j) ORS chapter 578 relating to OregonWheat Commission assessments.

(k) ORS chapter 462 relating to racingtaxes.

(L) ORS chapter 657 relating to unem-ployment insurance taxes.

(m) ORS chapter 656 relating to workers’compensation contributions, assessments orfees.

(n) ORS 311.420, 311.425, 311.455, 311.650,311.655 and ORS chapter 312 relating toforeclosure of real and personal property taxliens.

(o) Sections 15 to 22, 24 and 29, chapter736, Oregon Laws 2003, relating to long termcare facility assessments.



(2) The tax court and the circuit courtsshall have concurrent jurisdiction to try ac-tions or suits to determine:

(a) The priority of property tax liens inrelation to other liens.

(b) The validity of any deed, conveyance,transfer or assignment of real or personalproperty under ORS 95.060 and 95.070 (1983Replacement Part) or 95.200 to 95.310 wherethe Department of Revenue has or claims alien or other interest in the property.

(3) Subject only to the provisions of ORS305.445 relating to judicial review by the Su-preme Court, the tax court shall be the sole,exclusive and final judicial authority for thehearing and determination of all questionsof law and fact concerning the authorizeduses of the proceeds of bonded indebtednessdescribed in section 11 (11)(d), Article XI ofthe Oregon Constitution.

(4) Except as permitted under section 2,amended Article VII, Oregon Constitution,this section and ORS 305.445, no person shallcontest, in any action, suit or proceeding inthe circuit court or any other court, anymatter within the jurisdiction of the taxcourt. [1961 c.533 §12; 1965 c.6 §2; 1967 c.359 §688; 1969c.48 §1; 1971 c.567 §14; 1975 c.365 §1; 1977 c.407 §1; 1985c.149 §5; 1985 c.664 §18; 2003 c.195 §18; 2003 c.604 §100;2007 c.780 §29]

305.412 Jurisdiction to determinevalue. When the determination of real mar-ket value or the correct valuation of anyproperty subject to special assessment is anissue before the tax court, the court has ju-risdiction to determine the real market valueor correct valuation on the basis of the evi-dence before the court, without regard to thevalues pleaded by the parties. [2005 c.224 §2]

Note: 305.412 was added to and made a part of305.404 to 305.560 by legislative action but was notadded to any smaller series therein. See Preface to Or-egon Revised Statutes for further explanation.

305.415 Service of papers and process.Except as otherwise provided in ORS 305.404to 305.560, the mailing by registered or cer-tified mail of any pleading, decision, order,notice or process, other than a subpoena, inrespect to proceedings before the court shallbe sufficient service thereof. [1961 c.533 §25]

305.418 When mailed complaint con-sidered to be filed. Any complaint requiredby law to be filed with the Oregon Tax Courtthat is:

(1) Transmitted through the UnitedStates mail, shall be deemed filed (a) on thedate shown by the post-office cancellationmark stamped upon the envelope containingit, or (b) on the date it was mailed if thereis also mailed to the tax court a declarationof mailing, signed by the appealing party orthe attorney of the appealing party and veri-fied by oath or affirmation, subject to penal-

ties for false swearing, in substantially thefollowing form:__________________________________________

DECLARATION OF MAILINGI hereby declare under the penalties for

false swearing contained in ORS chapter 162that on the day of ,2 , I deposited a complaint entitled

, and dated , in a sealedenvelope, with postage prepaid, in the UnitedStates Post Office at ,Oregon (or other state of mailing), addressedto the Oregon Tax Court, 1163 State Street,Salem, Oregon 97301-2563 (or current ad-dress).

(Signature of appealing party or the attorney

of the appealing party)__________________________________________

(2) Lost in transmission through theUnited States mail, shall be deemed filed onthe date it was mailed if the appealing party:

(a) Can establish by competent evidencesatisfactory to the tax court that the com-plaint was deposited on or before the datedue for filing in the United States mail andaddressed correctly to the court; and

(b) Files with the court a duplicate of thelost complaint within 30 days after writtennotification is given by the court of its fail-ure to receive such complaint, but in noevent later than 90 days after the date thecomplaint was otherwise required to be filedunder ORS 305.560. [1975 c.381 §2; 1979 c.689 §3;1993 c.612 §3; 2005 c.225 §3]

305.419 Tax, penalty and interest pay-able before appeal; how determined;waiver; refund. (1) Except as provided insubsection (3) of this section, in any appealfrom an order, act, omission or determinationof the Department of Revenue involving adeficiency of taxes imposed upon or meas-ured by net income, the tax assessed, and allpenalties and interest due, shall be paid tothe department on or before the filing of acomplaint with the regular division of theOregon Tax Court under ORS 305.560 or be-fore a complaint specially designated forhearing in the regular division under ORS305.501 is heard. The complaint shall be filedas a claim for refund.

(2) Penalty and interest due under sub-section (1) of this section are the amountsstated in the order, notice of assessment, no-tice of refund denial or proposed adjustmentunder ORS 305.270 by the department fromwhich the appeal is taken.

(3) Where payment of the tax, penaltiesand interest would be an undue hardship,plaintiff may file an affidavit alleging undue



hardship with the complaint. If the tax courtfinds undue hardship, the tax court judgemay stay all or any part of the payment oftax, penalty and interest required under sub-section (1) of this section. If the tax courtjudge finds no undue hardship, the tax courtjudge may grant the plaintiff up to 30 daysfrom the date of determination to pay thetaxes, penalties and interest. Failure by theplaintiff to pay the taxes, penalties and in-terest or to establish undue hardship will because for dismissing the complaint.

(4) If, in any appeal to the Oregon TaxCourt for which payment of tax, penalty andinterest assessed is required before filing ofa complaint, the tax court orders that all orany part of the amount paid be refunded bythe department, the amount so ordered to berefunded shall bear interest at the rate es-tablished for refunds in ORS 305.220. Interestshall be computed from the date of paymentto the department. [1982 s.s.1 c.29 §§2, 3; 1985 c.407§1; 1995 c.650 §17; 1997 c.872 §19]

305.420 Issuance of subpoenas; admin-istration of oaths; depositions. (1) Thejudge, a magistrate or the clerk of the taxcourt, on the request of any party to theproceeding, or the attorney of the party,shall issue subpoenas requiring the attend-ance of and the giving of testimony by wit-nesses, and subpoenas duces tecum requiringthe production of any returns, books, papers,documents, correspondence and other evi-dence pertaining to the matter under inquiryat any designated place of hearing in themanner prescribed by law in civil actions incourts of this state.

(2) Any employee of the court designatedin writing for the purpose by the judge mayadminister oaths.

(3) Any party to the proceeding maycause the depositions of witnesses residingwithin or without the state to be taken inthe manner prescribed by law for like depo-sitions in civil actions in courts of this state.To that end, the party may compel the at-tendance of witnesses and the production ofreturns, books, papers, documents, corre-spondence and other evidence pertaining tothe matter under inquiry.

(4) Subject to ORS 305.390 and 305.392,subpoenas in a proceeding involving the de-termination of the value of an industrialplant, as defined in ORS 308.408, for purposesof ad valorem property taxation, may be is-sued as provided in subsection (1) of thissection. However, upon petition of the personsubpoenaed, the court shall make an orderdetermining if the evidence sought by thesubpoena is relevant to the pending proceed-ing and, if requested by the person sub-poenaed, an order as required in the

interests of justice to protect the confiden-tiality of the information subpoenaed. [1961c.533 §17; 1963 c.304 §1; 1981 c.139 §5; 1993 c.353 §6; 1995c.650 §18; 2003 c.46 §5; 2005 c.345 §6]

305.422 Waiver of penalty for failureto timely file property return. If a penaltyunder ORS 308.295 or 308.296 for the failureto timely file a real, combined or personalproperty return as required by ORS 308.290is the subject of an appeal to the tax court,the court may waive the liability for all or aportion of the penalty upon a proper showingof good and sufficient cause. [2001 c.303 §5]

305.425 Proceedings to be without juryand de novo; issues reviewable; rules ofprocedure. (1) All proceedings before thejudge of the tax court shall be original, in-dependent proceedings and shall be triedwithout a jury and de novo.

(2) If a statute provides for an appeal toor a review by the court of an order, act,omission or determination of the Departmentof Revenue, a board of property tax appealsor of any other administrative agency, theproceeding shall be an original proceeding inthe nature of a suit in equity to set asidesuch order or determination or correct theact or omission. The time within which thestatute provides that the proceeding shall bebrought is a period of limitations and is notjurisdictional.

(3) All hearings and proceedings beforethe tax court judge shall be in accordancewith the rules of practice and procedurepromulgated by the court, which shall con-form, as far as practical to the rules of eq-uity practice and procedure in this state.[1961 c.533 §16; 1965 c.6 §3; 1967 c.78 §9; 1973 c.484 §7;1977 c.870 §29; 1981 s.s. c.1 §23; 1995 c.650 §19; 1997 c.541§60]

305.427 Burden of proof in tax courtproceedings. In all proceedings before thejudge or a magistrate of the tax court andupon appeal therefrom, a preponderance ofthe evidence shall suffice to sustain the bur-den of proof. The burden of proof shall fallupon the party seeking affirmative relief andthe burden of going forward with the evi-dence shall shift as in other civil litigation.[1965 c.6 §5; 1995 c.650 §20]

305.430 Hearings to be open to public;report of proceedings; exception; confi-dential information. (1) Except as providedin subsections (2) and (3) of this section,hearings before the judge or a magistrate ofthe tax court shall be open to the public. Allproceedings in the regular division of the taxcourt shall be reported unless waived by theparties with the consent of the court. Theexpense of reporting shall be paid by thestate from the appropriation for the court.Proceedings before the magistrate divisionshall not be reported.



(2) If information is confidential underORS 308.411 (4) or by court order under ORS305.420 (4), and is introduced into evidencein any hearing before the tax court, thecourt first shall make such order or ordersas are necessary to protect the confidential-ity of the information.

(3) In any proceeding before a magistrateor before the tax court judge involving con-fidential business records, tax returns ordocuments containing trade secrets, uponmotion of a party to the proceeding, themagistrate or judge may make such protec-tive orders as may be necessary to protectthe confidentiality of such records or the in-formation contained therein. In determiningwhether such protective orders should be is-sued, the court shall weigh the harm sufferedby the disclosing party against any benefitreceived by the public as a result of the dis-closure. Complaints, pleadings and otherfilings containing confidential business re-cord information, tax return information ortrade secret information shall be subject tothe provisions of this subsection.

(4) In a matter involving a request for aprotective order under subsections (2) and (3)of this section, the decision of a magistrateof the tax court may be appealed to the reg-ular division of the tax court and the magis-trate may stay the case on the merits untilthe request for a protective order is resolvedby the tax court judge or the Supreme Court.A decision of the tax court judge on a re-quest for a protective order shall be a finalorder for purposes of appeal to the SupremeCourt. The parties may appeal the issue ofthe protective order to the Supreme Courtat any time after the protective order wasgranted or denied by the tax court judge.Upon appeal to the Supreme Court, the Su-preme Court shall stay the case on the mer-its until a resolution of the protective orderissue is determined by the Supreme Court.Appeals to the regular division of the taxcourt described in this subsection shall beexpedited and determined within 90 days,unless the tax court determines in its dis-cretion that it requires additional time. [1961c.533 §19; 1981 c.139 §9; 1981 c.727 §2; 1989 c.760 §1; 1995c.650 §21; 2005 c.345 §7; 2009 c.457 §1]

305.435 [1961 c.533 §20; 1963 c.280 §1; 1965 c.6 §6;1977 c.870 §30; 1991 c.459 §16; 1997 c.541 §62; repealed by1995 c.650 §114]

305.437 Damages for frivolous orgroundless appeal or appeal to delay. (1)Whenever it appears to the Oregon TaxCourt that proceedings before it have beeninstituted or maintained by a taxpayer pri-marily for delay or that the taxpayer’s posi-tion in such proceeding is frivolous orgroundless, a penalty in an amount not toexceed $5,000 shall be awarded to the De-partment of Revenue by the Oregon Tax

Court in its judgment. The penalty soawarded shall be paid within 10 days afterthe judgment becomes final. If the penaltyremains unpaid, the department may collectthe amount awarded in the same manner asincome taxes are collected under ORS314.430.

(2) As used in this section:(a) A taxpayer’s position is “frivolous” if

there was no objectively reasonable basis forasserting the position.

(b) “Position” means any claim, defenseor argument asserted by a taxpayer withoutregard to any other claim, defense or argu-ment asserted by the taxpayer. [1987 c.843 §4;1995 c.650 §6a; 2009 c.640 §5]

305.440 Finality of unappealed decisionof tax court; effect of appeal to SupremeCourt. (1) The decision of the court shall bebinding upon all parties until changed, if atall, by the decision of the Supreme Courtupon appeal. If no appeal is taken to the Su-preme Court, the decision of the court shallconstitute a final determination of the mat-ter. If an appeal is taken, the decision of thecourt shall become final in the same manneras the decision or judgment of the circuitcourt becomes final when appeal therefromis taken to the Supreme Court.

(2) Upon the final determination of anyad valorem tax matter, all officers havingcharge of the rolls on which the assessmentsinvolved in such proceeding appears shallcorrect the same in accordance with suchdetermination, and taxes shall be refundedas provided in ORS 311.806 or additionaltaxes collected by the proper officers. In thecase of an appeal as to properties assessedor taxed under ORS 308.505 to 308.665 or308.805 to 308.820, a certified copy of thejudgment of the court shall be sufficientwarrant for the apportionment, levying andcollecting of taxes against the property con-stituting the subject matter of the appeal andupon the valuation determined by the court.If any reapportionment as between countiesis made by the court on appeal, correspond-ing adjustments shall be made by the taxcollectors of the counties affected. [1961 c.533§21; 1971 c.567 §15; 1977 c.870 §31; 1983 c.696 §9; 1985 c.85§11; 1997 c.154 §26; 2003 c.576 §412]

305.445 Appeals to Supreme Court; re-viewing authority and action on appeal.The sole and exclusive remedy for review ofany decision or order of the judge of the taxcourt shall be by appeal to the SupremeCourt. Jurisdiction hereby is vested in theSupreme Court to hear and determine allappeals from final decisions and final ordersof the judge of the tax court. The scope ofthe review of either a decision or order ofthe tax court judge shall be limited to errorsor questions of law or lack of substantial ev-



idence in the record to support the taxcourt’s decision or order. Such appeals, andthe review of final decisions and final ordersof the tax court, shall be in accordance withthe procedure in actions at law on appealfrom a circuit court, but without regard tothe sum involved. Upon such appeal and re-view, the Supreme Court shall have power toaffirm, modify or reverse the order or deci-sion of the tax court appealed from, with orwithout remanding the case for furtherhearing, as justice may require. [1961 c.533 §22;1995 c.650 §25]

305.447 Recovery by taxpayer of cer-tain costs and expenses upon appeal toSupreme Court. If, in an appeal under ORS305.445 involving taxes upon or measured bynet income in which an individual taxpayeris a party, the court grants the refundclaimed by the taxpayer or denies the addi-tional assessment of taxes claimed by theDepartment of Revenue to be due from thetaxpayer, the court may allow the taxpayer:

(1) Reasonable attorney fees for the ap-peal under ORS 305.445 and for any priorproceeding in the matter before the taxcourt; and

(2) Reasonable expenses as determined bythe court in addition to costs and disburse-ments. Expenses include accountant fees andfees for other experts incurred by the tax-payer in preparing for and conducting theappeal under this section and any prior pro-ceeding in the matter before the tax court.[1971 c.265 §3; 1977 c.870 §31a; 1995 c.650 §26; 1997 c.99§§37,38]

305.450 Publication of tax court deci-sions. The tax court shall cause a copy ofeach of its written decisions to be deliveredto the State Court Administrator. The ad-ministrator, after consultation with the judgeof the tax court, shall determine whether adecision is of general public interest. Thedecisions determined to be of general publicinterest shall be published and distributed asprovided in ORS 2.150. Bound volumes of re-ports of decisions constitute the official re-ports of the tax court. [1961 c.533 §23; 1963 c.250§1; 1967 c.96 §1; 1967 c.398 §2; subsection (4) enacted as1967 c.398 §9 (3); 1975 c.37 §2; 1977 c.145 §1; 1979 c.876§3; 1982 s.s.1 c.7 §2]

305.452 Election and term of judge;vacancy; recommendation of appointeesto fill vacancy. (1) The judge of the taxcourt shall be elected by the electors of thestate for a term of six years, in the mannerprovided in ORS chapter 249.

(2) In the event of a vacancy in the officeof judge, the vacancy shall be filled by anappointment made by the Governor. TheGovernor may request the governors of theOregon State Bar to submit to the Governor

the names of five or more eligible personsdeemed by them to be particularly experi-enced in the field of tax law, as an aid to theGovernor in making the appointment. [1961c.533 §§2,3(2); 1979 c.190 §412]

305.455 Qualifications of judge; inap-plicability of disqualification-for-prejudiceprovision. (1) The judge of the tax courtshall be a citizen of the United States andof this state, and shall have been admitted topractice in the Supreme Court of Oregon andhave been engaged in this state for at leastthree years preceding the election or ap-pointment of the judge of the tax court, ei-ther in active practice, governmental orprivate, as an attorney and counselor at lawor in the discharge of the duties of a judicialor quasi-judicial office.

(2) Notwithstanding the provision of anyother law, the provisions of ORS 14.250 re-lating to the disqualification of a judge forprejudice shall not be applicable to any judgeserving regularly or temporarily as a judgeof the tax court. [1961 c.533 §3(1),(8); 2003 c.518 §10]

305.460 Salary, expenses, disabilityand retirement of judge and magistrates.(1) The judge of the tax court shall receivesuch salary as is provided by law. The pre-siding magistrate and magistrates of the taxcourt shall receive such salary as is fixedunder the personnel plan established by theChief Justice of the Supreme Court pursuantto ORS 1.008. The judge and magistratesshall receive no other allowances for servicesexcept as authorized by this section.

(2) When the judge or a magistrate of thetax court holds court or performs any otherofficial function away from the state capital,hotel bills and traveling expenses necessarilyincurred by the judge or magistrate in theperformance of that duty shall be paid by thestate. Such expenses are to be paid upon thecertificate of the judge or magistrate to thetruth of an itemized statement of the ex-penses. The certificate of expenses is a suffi-cient voucher upon which the claim shall bepaid as provided in ORS 293.295 to 293.462.The Oregon Department of AdministrativeServices shall draw a warrant upon the StateTreasurer for the amount thereof in favor ofthe tax court judge or magistrate.

(3) The judge of the Oregon Tax Courtshall be subject to the provisions of ORS1.310 and 238.505 relating to disability andretirement to the same extent and in thesame manner as a judge of a circuit court.A tax court magistrate shall be subject tothe provisions of law relating to retirementfor disability and retirement applicable to astate officer or employee. [1961 c.533 §§4,5; 1977c.896 §9; 1983 c.740 §85; 1991 c.815 §10; 1995 c.650 §4]

305.465 [1961 c.533 §6; repealed by 1975 c.706 §10]



305.470 Presiding judge; functions.Whenever more than one judge is serving asa judge of the tax court, the judge elected orappointed under ORS 305.452 shall be thepresiding judge. The presiding judge shallassign causes, matters and proceedings andapportion the business of the tax court. [1961c.533 §7; 1981 s.s. c.1 §24]

305.475 Offices of tax court; locationof hearings. The principal office of the taxcourt shall be in the state capital, but thecourt may hold hearings in any location des-ignated under ORS 1.085. The county courtor board of county commissioners, upon re-quest of the judge of the tax court, shallprovide the court with suitable rooms whenhearings are held in the county. [1961 c.533 §9;1969 c.706 §64d; 1983 c.763 §8; 2007 c.547 §11]

305.480 State Court Administrator asadministrator and clerk; other personnel;expenses; limitation on activities of per-sonnel. (1) The State Court Administratorshall act as court administrator for the taxcourt. Other necessary employees of thecourt shall be appointed and otherwise gov-erned by applicable provisions of the person-nel plan for employees of the courts of thisstate who are state employees.

(2) The judge and employees of the courtshall be reimbursed for all actual and neces-sary expenses as provided by law.

(3) No employee of the court shall act asattorney, counselor or accountant in thematter of any tax imposed or levied by thisstate or any of its political subdivisions.

(4) Subject to the applicable provisionsof a personnel plan established by the ChiefJustice of the Supreme Court of Oregon, thejudge of the tax court shall appoint a personto serve as tax court clerk. The tax courtclerk shall:

(a) Keep the seal of the tax court andaffix it in all cases required by law.

(b) Record the proceedings of the court.(c) Keep the records, files, books and pa-

pers pertaining to the tax court.(d) File all papers delivered to the officer

for that purpose in any suit or proceedingtherein, or before the judge.

(e) Attend the tax court and administeroaths.

(f) Under the direction of the judge of thetax court enter its orders and judgments.

(g) Authenticate, by certificate or tran-script, as may be required, the records, filesor proceedings of the tax court, or any paperpertaining thereto, and filed with the officer.

(h) In the performance of duties pertain-ing to the tax court, conform to the directionof the tax court judge.

(5) The State Court Administrator maydelegate powers of the State Court Adminis-trator under this section to employees of theState Court Administrator. [1961 c.533 §11; 1981c.727 §1; 1995 c.273 §5; 1995 c.650 §3]

305.485 Records. (1) The records of thetax court shall include a register, journaland fee book.

(2) The register is a book wherein theclerk shall enter, by its title, every suit orproceeding commenced in, or transferred orappealed to, the tax court, according to thedate of its commencement, transfer or ap-peal. Thereafter, until the entry of judgment,the clerk shall note therein, according to thedate thereof, the filing or return of any paperor process, or the making of any order, ruleor other direction in or concerning such suitor proceeding.

(3) The journal is a book wherein theclerk shall enter the proceedings of thecourt.

(4) The fee book is a book wherein theclerk shall enter, under the title of everycause, against the party to whom the serviceis rendered, the clerk’s fees earned, andwhether received or not received.

(5) The files of the court are all papersor process filed with or by the clerk of thecourt, in any suit or proceeding therein, orbefore the judge.

(6) Separate records shall be kept for themagistrate division.

(7) ORS 7.095, authorizing the use ofelectronic data processing techniques, is ap-plicable to the records required by this sec-tion. [1961 c.533 §10; 1995 c.273 §26; 1995 c.650 §5; 1997c.325 §§9,10]

(Industrial Property Appeals)305.487 Findings and policy. (1) The

Legislative Assembly finds that:(a) Principal and secondary industrial

property that is appraised by the Departmentof Revenue under ORS 306.126 and propertythat is centrally assessed by the departmentunder ORS 308.505 to 308.665 involve largeamounts of property value and complex ap-praisal issues.

(b) Appeals of the value of principal andsecondary industrial property or centrallyassessed property can have significant impacton the stable funding of essential local gov-ernment services because of the fiscal conse-quences of substantial tax refunds.

(c) The citizens of this state and theowners of industrial or centrally assessedproperty are best served by the efficient res-olution of property tax appeals related tothese properties.



(2) The Legislative Assembly declaresthat it is the policy of this state to stronglyencourage taxpayers, local governments, thedepartment and the Oregon Tax Court to re-solve appeals related to the value of principalor secondary industrial property or centrallyassessed property as quickly and efficientlyas possible, in order to reduce the financialimpacts of lengthy appeal processes. [2005 c.345§13]

Note: 305.487 and 305.489 were added to and madea part of 305.404 to 305.560 by legislative action butwere not added to any smaller series therein. See Pre-face to Oregon Revised Statutes for further explanation.

305.489 Considerations in adoptingrules. The Department of Revenue shallconsider the findings and declarations of theLegislative Assembly under ORS 305.487when adopting administrative rules relatedto appeals to the Oregon Tax Court of thevalue of principal or secondary industrialproperty or centrally assessed property, inorder to ensure that the rules that the de-partment adopts promote the objectives ofquick and efficient resolution of these ap-peals. [2005 c.345 §14]

Note: See note under 305.487.

(Fees)305.490 Filing fees; recovery of certain

costs and disbursements; additional re-covery for certain taxpayers; dispositionof receipts. (1) Plaintiffs or petitioners filinga complaint or petition in the tax court shallpay the filing fee established under ORS21.135 at the time of filing for each com-plaint or petition.

(2) Neither the State of Oregon, nor anycounty, school district, municipal corporationor other public corporation therein, nor anyofficer of any such public political divisionor corporation, appearing in the represen-tative capacity of the officer of any publicpolitical division or corporation, shall be re-quired to pay the fee prescribed under thissection. The party entitled to costs and dis-bursements on such appeal shall recoverfrom the opponent of the party the amountso paid upon order of the court, as in equitysuits in the circuit court.

(3)(a) If, in any proceeding before the taxcourt judge involving taxes upon or meas-ured by net income in which an individualtaxpayer is a party, or involving inheritanceor estate taxes, the court grants a refundclaimed by the executor or taxpayer or de-nies in part or wholly an additional assess-ment of taxes claimed by the Department ofRevenue to be due from the estate or tax-payer, the court may allow the taxpayer, inaddition to costs and disbursements, the fol-lowing:

(A) Reasonable attorney fees for the pro-ceeding under this subsection and for theprior proceeding in the matter, if any, beforethe magistrate; and

(B) Reasonable expenses as determinedby the court. Expenses include accountantfees and fees of other experts incurred by theexecutor or individual taxpayer in preparingfor and conducting the proceeding before thetax court judge and the prior proceeding inthe matter, if any, before the magistrate.

(b) Payment of attorney fees or reason-able expenses under this subsection shall bemade by the Department of Revenue in themanner provided by ORS 305.790.

(4)(a) If, in any proceeding before the taxcourt judge involving ad valorem propertytaxation, exemptions, special assessments oromitted property, the court finds in favor ofthe taxpayer, the court may allow the tax-payer, in addition to costs and disburse-ments, the following:

(A) Reasonable attorney fees for the pro-ceeding under this subsection and for theprior proceeding in the matter, if any, beforethe magistrate; and

(B) Reasonable expenses as determinedby the court. Expenses include fees of ex-perts incurred by the individual taxpayer inpreparing for and conducting the proceedingbefore the tax court judge and the prior pro-ceeding in the matter, if any, before themagistrate.

(b) Payment of attorney fees or reason-able expenses under this subsection shall bemade by the Department of Revenue in themanner provided by ORS 305.790.

(5) All fees and other moneys received orcollected by the clerk by virtue of the officeof the clerk shall be paid over to the StateTreasurer and shall be held by the clerk inthe General Fund as miscellaneous receipts.[1961 c.533 §15(1), (3); 1965 c.6 §7; 1971 c.265 §1; 1977 c.870§32; 1993 c.612 §1; 1995 c.650 §6; 1997 c.99 §§40,41; 1999c.21 §10; 2001 c.287 §1; 2005 c.345 §8; 2009 c.53 §1; 2011c.526 §24; 2011 c.595 §62]

305.492 Fees and expenses of wit-nesses. Any witness subpoenaed or whosedeposition is taken shall receive the fees andmileage provided for witnesses in ORS 44.415(2). Witnesses for the state or its politicalsubdivisions shall be paid from moneys ap-propriated therefor. Payment of fees andmileage to other witnesses shall be made bythe party at whose instance the witness ap-pears or the deposition is taken. [Formerly305.495]

305.493 Fees for transcripts or copiesof records. (1) The judge of the tax courtelected or appointed under ORS 305.452 mayestablish a fee for comparing, or for prepar-ing and comparing, a transcript of the re-



cord. The fee established under thissubsection may not exceed the fees chargedand collected by the clerks of the circuitcourt.

(2)(a) The Chief Justice of the SupremeCourt by order may establish fees for copiesof tax court records, for services relating tothose records and for other services that thetax court, the clerk of the tax court or theState Court Administrator acting as courtadministrator for the tax court is authorizedor required to perform.

(b) The Chief Justice may not establish:(A) A fee for the location or inspection

of court records; or(B) A fee for a service under this sub-

section if the fee is otherwise specified bystatute.

(3) The fee established by the Chief Jus-tice under subsection (2) of this section forpaper copies of records may not exceed 25cents per page, except for records for whichadditional services are required. If additionalservices are required, fees for providing therecords are subject to ORS 192.440. [Formerly305.500; 2009 c.53 §2]

(Representation)305.494 When shareholder may repre-

sent corporation in tax court pro-ceedings. Notwithstanding ORS 9.320, anyshareholder of an S corporation as defined insection 1361 of the Internal Revenue Code,as amended and in effect on December 31,2010, may represent the corporation in anyproceeding before the Oregon Tax Court inthe same manner as if the shareholder werea partner and the S corporation were a part-nership. [Formerly 305.510; 1997 c.839 §42; 1999 c.90§29; 2001 c.660 §24; 2003 c.77 §2; 2005 c.832 §14; 2007 c.614§2; 2008 c.45 §2; 2009 c.5 §12; 2009 c.909 §12; 2010 c.82§12; 2011 c.7 §12]

305.495 [1961 c.533 §18; 1989 c.980 §12; renumbered305.492 in 1995]

(Magistrate Division)305.498 Magistrates; appointment;

qualifications; oaths; duties; dismissal;appointment of presiding magistrate. (1)The magistrate division is established in theOregon Tax Court. The judge of the taxcourt shall appoint one or more individualsto sit as magistrates of the magistrate divi-sion at locations within the state as thejudge shall determine.

(2) An individual who is appointed as atax court magistrate shall be a citizen of theUnited States and a resident of this state andcompetent to perform the duties of the office.

(3) A full-time, part-time or temporarymagistrate shall perform such duties as the

judge of the tax court or presiding magis-trate may direct.

(4)(a) Before entering on the duties of of-fice, each individual employed as a tax courtmagistrate shall take and subscribe to anoath or affirmation that the individual:

(A) Will support the Constitutions of theUnited States and of this state and faithfullyand honestly discharge the duties of the of-fice.

(B) Does not hold, and while the individ-ual is a magistrate will not hold, a positionunder any political party.

(b) The oath or affirmation shall be filedin the office of the Secretary of State.

(5) An individual while a magistrate mayhold another office or position of profit orpursue another calling or vocation unlessholding the office or position or pursuing thecalling or vocation:

(a) Is inconsistent with the expeditious,proper and impartial performance of the du-ties of a magistrate; or

(b) Would interfere with the ability of themagistrate to perform fully the duties of themagistrate’s position.

(6) The judge of the tax court may ap-point one of the magistrates as presidingmagistrate.

(7) A tax court magistrate and other offi-cers and employees of the magistrate divisionof the tax court appointed under a personnelplan established by the Chief Justice of theSupreme Court of Oregon are state officersor employees in the exempt service and notsubject to ORS chapter 240. However, an of-ficer or employee shall have the right to bedismissed only for just cause after hearingand appeal. [1995 c.650 §2; 2011 c.309 §1]

305.500 [1961 c.533 §§15(2),24; 1963 c.423 §3; renum-bered 305.493 in 1995]

305.501 Appeals to tax court to beheard by magistrate division; exception;mediation; conduct of hearings; decisions;appeal de novo to tax court judge. (1) Ex-cept as provided in subsection (2) of thissection, an appeal to the tax court shall beheard by a tax court magistrate unless spe-cially designated by the tax court judge forhearing in the regular division. In any mat-ter arising under the property tax laws andinvolving a county or county assessor that isdesignated for hearing in the regular divi-sion, the Department of Revenue shall besubstituted for the county as a party.

(2) A party to the appeal may requestmediation, or the tax court on its own mo-tion may assign the matter to mediation. Ifthe mediation does not result in an agreedsettlement within 60 days after the end ofthe mediation session, the appeal shall, ab-



sent a showing of good cause for a contin-uance, be assigned to a magistrate forhearing.

(3) The tax court, with the assistance ofthe State Court Administrator, shall estab-lish procedures for magistrate division hear-ings and mediation.

(4)(a) Subject to the rules of practice andprocedure established by the tax court, amagistrate is not bound by common law orstatutory rules of evidence or by technicalor formal rules of procedure, and may con-duct the hearing in any manner that willachieve substantial justice. A hearing maybe conducted in person or by telephone.Magistrates may confer with each other inorder to reach a decision on any matter.

(b) All written magistrate decisions shallbe mailed to the parties to the appeal and tothe Department of Revenue within five daysafter the date of entry of the written deci-sion.

(5)(a) Any party dissatisfied with a writ-ten decision of a magistrate may appeal thedecision to the judge of the tax court by fil-ing a complaint in the regular division of thetax court within 60 days after the date ofentry of the written decision.

(b) If a decision of a magistrate involvesany matter arising under the property taxlaws and a county was a party to the pro-ceeding before the magistrate, the Depart-ment of Revenue may file a notice of appealwhether or not the department had inter-vened in the proceeding before the magis-trate. In such cases, the department shallappear before the tax court judge in anyproceeding on appeal.

(c) If a decision of a magistrate involvesany matter arising under the property taxlaws and a party other than a county appealsthe decision to the tax court judge, the De-partment of Revenue shall be the defendant.

(d) Appeal to the judge of the tax courtis the sole and exclusive remedy for reviewof a written decision of a magistrate.

(6) Appeal of a final decision of a magis-trate before the judge of the tax court shallbe as provided in ORS 305.425 (1) and305.570.

(7) If no appeal is taken to the tax courtjudge within 60 days, the decision of themagistrate shall become final. The tax courtshall enter a judgment enforcing all final de-cisions of the magistrate, which judgmentshall be binding upon all parties. ORS305.440 (2) applies to the final determinationof any property tax matter. [1995 c.650 §11; 1997c.872 §20; 1999 c.340 §1; 2005 c.345 §9; 2007 c.283 §1]

305.505 Magistrate division records;statistical reports. (1) The records of thetax court magistrate division shall includeinformation as to the dates cases are filedand the dates decisions are issued.

(2) At the time of preparation bienniallyof consolidated budgets for submission to theLegislative Assembly under ORS 8.125, theState Court Administrator shall prepare andsubmit to the Legislative Assembly generalstatistical information as to the amount oftime required by the tax court magistrate di-vision to reach its decisions. [1995 c.650 §5a; 2005c.94 §23]

305.510 [1973 c.681 §2; 1985 c.802 §36; 1995 c.556 §31;renumbered 305.494 in 1995]

305.514 [1995 c.650 §3a; 1997 c.99 §43; 1997 c.170 §17;1997 c.541 §64; 2003 c.621 §77; 2003 c.804 §64; repealed by2005 c.345 §1]

305.515 [1961 c.533 §26; 1965 c.6 §8; 1967 c.78 §11;1969 c.355 §1; 1971 c.567 §16; 1973 c.752 §11; 1975 c.705§3; 1977 c.870 §33; 1977 c.892 §55; 1983 c.673 §19; 1985c.407 §2; 1985 c.759 §39; 1985 c.816 §41; 1989 c.760 §2; 1991c.459 §18; 1991 c.790 §18; 1993 c.270 §13; 1993 c.612 §2;1997 c.99 §45; 1997 c.170 §19; repealed by 1995 c.650 §114]

305.520 [1961 c.533 §34; 1995 c.79 §109; repealed by1995 c.650 §114]

305.525 Notice to taxpayer of right toappeal. At the same time that a notice ofassessment, letter of refund denial or deter-mination or an order of the board of propertytax appeals is given to any taxpayer, the De-partment of Revenue or board of property taxappeals, as the case may be, shall in writingalso notify the taxpayer of the right of thetaxpayer to appeal to the tax court underORS 305.404 to 305.560. [1961 c.533 §29; 1977 c.870§54; 1995 c.650 §64; 1997 c.541 §§66,67]

305.530 [1961 c.533 §27; 1967 c.78 §10; 1971 c.567 §17;1975 c.762 §18; 1977 c.870 §14; repealed by 1995 c.650 §114]

305.535 [1961 c.533 §28; 1969 c.355 §2; 1977 c.870 §15;1977 c.892 §57; 1981 c.804 §85; 1983 s.s. c.5 §2; 1991 c.459§20; 1993 c.270 §14; repealed by 1995 c.650 §114]

305.540 [1961 c.533 §30; 1971 c.351 §1; repealed by1995 c.650 §114]

305.543 [1983 c.673 §21; 1991 c.459 §21; 1997 c.541 §69;repealed by 1995 c.650 §114]

305.545 [1961 c.533 §32; repealed by 1995 c.650 §114]305.550 [1961 c.533 §31; 1971 c.351 §2; repealed by

1995 c.650 §114]305.555 [1961 c.533 §33; 1993 c.270 §15; repealed by

1995 c.650 §114]

(Appeals Procedure; Effect of Pendency of Appeal)

305.560 Appeals procedure generally;procedure when taxpayer is notappellant; intervention. (1)(a) Except for anorder, or portion thereof, denying the discre-tionary waiver of penalty or interest by theDepartment of Revenue, an appeal underORS 305.275 may be taken by filing a com-plaint with the clerk of the Oregon TaxCourt at its principal office at Salem, Ore-



gon, within the time required under ORS305.280.

(b) The clerk of the tax court shall servecopies of all complaints and petitions on theDepartment of Revenue. Service upon thedepartment shall be accomplished by theclerk of the tax court filing the copy of thecomplaint with the Director of the Depart-ment of Revenue. Except as otherwise pro-vided by law, other service shall beaccomplished as provided in the rules ofpractice and procedure promulgated by thetax court.

(c)(A) The complaint shall be entitled inthe name of the person filing the same asplaintiff and the Department of Revenue,county, taxpayer or other person or entity asdefendant. If the complaint relates to valueof property for ad valorem property tax pur-poses and the county has made the appraisal,the complaint shall be entitled in the nameof the person filing the same as plaintiff andthe county assessor as defendant.

(B) If any, a copy of the order of the de-partment or board of property tax appealsshall be attached to the complaint.

(2) The complaint shall state the natureof the plaintiff’s interest, the facts showinghow the plaintiff is aggrieved and directlyaffected by the order, act, omission or deter-mination and the grounds upon which theplaintiff contends the order, act, omission ordetermination should be reversed or modi-fied. A responsive pleading shall be requiredof the defendant.

(3) In any case in which the taxpayer isnot the appealing party, a copy of the com-plaint shall be served upon the taxpayer bythe appealing party by certified mail withinthe period for filing an appeal, and an affi-davit showing such service shall be filed withthe clerk of the tax court. A copy of the or-der of the department, if any, shall be at-tached to the complaint. The taxpayer shallhave the right to appear and be heard.

(4)(a) At any time in the course of anyappeal before the tax court, the departmentmay intervene as a matter of right. A copyof any order or judgment issued by the taxcourt in any case in which the departmentis an intervenor shall be served upon the de-partment in the manner provided in subsec-tion (1)(b) of this section.

(b) The tax court, in its discretion, maypermit other interested persons to interveneby filing a complaint in such manner andunder such conditions as the court may deemappropriate. [1977 c.870 §10; 1989 c.760 §3; 1991 c.459§23; 1993 c.270 §16; 1995 c.650 §10; 1997 c.541 §71; 2005c.225 §4]

305.565 Stay of collection of taxes, in-terest and penalties pending appeal; ex-ception; bond. (1) Except as provided insubsection (2) of this section, proceedings forthe collection of any taxes, interest or pen-alties resulting from an assessment of addi-tional taxes imposed by ORS chapter 118,310, 314, 316, 317, 318, 321 or this chaptershall be stayed by the taking or pendency ofany appeal to the tax court.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of thissection, the Department of Revenue mayproceed to collect any taxes, interest or pen-alties described in subsection (1) of this sec-tion if the department determines thatcollection will be jeopardized if collection isdelayed or that the taxpayer has taken afrivolous position in the appeal. For purposesof this subsection:

(a) Collection of taxes, interest or penal-ties will be jeopardized if the taxpayer de-signs quickly to depart from the state or toremove the taxpayer’s property from thestate, or to do any other act tending to prej-udice or to render wholly or partially inef-fectual proceedings to collect the tax.

(b) A taxpayer’s position in an appeal isfrivolous if that position is of the kind de-scribed in ORS 316.992 (5).

(3) No proceeding for the apportionment,levy or collection of taxes on any propertyshall be stayed by the taking or pendency ofany appeal to the tax court, or from an orderof the county board of property tax appealsor the Oregon Tax Court, unless the assessoror tax collector either as a party to the suitor an intervenor, requests a stay and it ap-pears to the satisfaction of the court that asubstantial public interest requires the issu-ance of a stay.

(4) The tax court may, as a condition ofa stay, require the posting of a bond suffi-cient to guarantee payment of the tax. Pay-ment of taxes while appeal is pending shallnot operate as a waiver of the appeal or ofa right to refund of taxes found to be exces-sively charged or assessed. [1977 c.870 §11; 1982s.s.1 c.29 §4; 1985 c.761 §9; 1991 c.567 §4; 1993 c.270 §18;1995 c.650 §23; 1997 c.99 §§47,48; 1997 c.325 §13; 1997 c.541§73]

305.570 Standing to appeal to regulardivision of tax court; perfection of appeal.(1)(a) Any person, including a county asses-sor or county tax collector aggrieved by andaffected by a written decision of a tax courtmagistrate issued under ORS 305.501, or anyperson seeking a remedy in the tax courtprovided by statute, other than as providedin ORS 305.275 (1), may appeal to the regulardivision of the Oregon Tax Court, and appealshall be perfected in the manner provided inORS 305.404 to 305.560.



(b) Except for an appeal brought by acounty assessor or county tax collector, theorder being appealed under this subsectionmust affect the person or the property of theperson making the appeal or property forwhich the person making the appeal holds aninterest that obligates the person to paytaxes imposed on the property. As used inthis paragraph, an interest that obligates theperson to pay taxes includes a contract, leaseor other intervening instrumentality.

(2) A taxpayer or political subdivision af-fected by a determination of the Departmentof Revenue authorized under ORS 305.620may appeal to the tax court as provided inORS 305.620. [1977 c.870 §13; 1983 c.605 §3; 1983 c.749§3; 1991 c.459 §29; 1993 c.18 §65; 1995 c.650 §24; 1997 c.541§75; 1997 c.826 §§4,5; 1999 c.21 §11; 1999 c.340 §4]

305.575 Authority of tax court to de-termine deficiency. In an appeal to the Or-egon Tax Court from an assessment madeunder ORS 305.265, the tax court has juris-diction to determine the correct amount ofdeficiency, even if the amount so determinedis greater or less than the amount of the as-sessment determined by the Department ofRevenue, and even if determined upongrounds other or different from those as-serted by the department, provided thatclaim for such additional tax on other ordifferent grounds is asserted by the depart-ment before or at the hearing or any rehear-ing of the case before the tax court. In theevent such other or different grounds are as-serted by the department, the opposing partyshall be allowed additional time, not lessthan 10 days, within which to amend or oth-erwise plead thereto, which additional time,however, may be waived by stipulation of theparties. The order of the tax court shall besufficient for the collection by the depart-ment of the entire amount found by the courtto be owing and due. [1977 c.870 §21; 1995 c.650§30]

(Constitutional Limits Upon PropertyTaxes; Effects; Determination)

305.580 Exclusive remedies for certaindeterminations; priority of petitions. (1)The provisions of ORS 305.583, 305.585,305.587 and 305.589 shall provide the exclu-sive remedy for determination of questionsconcerning:

(a) The effect of the limits of section 11b,Article XI of the Oregon Constitution ontaxes, fees, charges and assessments of unitsof government.

(b) The authorized uses of the proceedsof bonded indebtedness described in section11 (11)(d), Article XI of the Oregon Constitu-tion.

(2) A petition filed with the regular divi-sion of the Oregon Tax Court pursuant to

ORS 305.583, 305.585, 305.587 or 305.589 shallhave priority over all other cases pendingbefore the regular division and shall be heardand decided as soon after coming to issue asis reasonably possible. [1991 c.459 §25; 1999 c.340§8; 2003 c.195 §19]

305.583 Interested taxpayer petitionsfor certain determinations; petition con-tents; manner and time for filing; classi-fication notice requirements; bondproceed use notice requirements. (1) Aninterested taxpayer may petition the regulardivision of the Oregon Tax Court to deter-mine a question described in ORS 305.580.

(2)(a) For purposes of this section and aquestion described in ORS 305.580 (1)(a), “in-terested taxpayer” means a person that issubject to the tax, fee, charge or assessmentin question.

(b) For purposes of this section and aquestion described in ORS 305.580 (1)(b), “in-terested taxpayer” means a person that issubject to a tax, fee, charge or assessmentthat is pledged to secure or available forpayment of bonded indebtedness described insection 11 (11)(d), Article XI of the OregonConstitution.

(3) The petition shall be filed and per-fected in the following manner only:

(a) The petitioner shall file a petitionwith the clerk of the tax court at its princi-pal office in Salem, Oregon. The petitionshall name as respondent the governmentunit that imposes the tax, fee, charge or as-sessment, that issues the bonded indebted-ness or, in the case of an urban renewalagency, that receives the taxes. The filing inthe tax court shall constitute the perfectionof the petition. The clerk of the tax courtshall serve the government unit by mailinga copy of the petition to the recording officeror chief administrative officer of the localgovernment unit or to the Attorney Generalif the tax, fee, charge or assessment in ques-tion is imposed by the State of Oregon. Theclerk also shall serve a copy of any petitionnaming a local government unit as respond-ent upon the Oregon Department of Justice.

(b) The petition shall state the facts andgrounds upon which the petitioner contendsthat the tax, fee, charge or assessment is af-fected by section 11 or 11b, Article XI of theOregon Constitution, or that a use of theproceeds of bonded indebtedness is not au-thorized. The case shall proceed thereafter inthe manner provided for appeals concerningad valorem property tax assessments. ORS305.405 to 305.494 shall apply to such actions.

(4)(a) Except as provided in subsections(5) to (8) of this section, in the case of aquestion regarding the effect of the limits ofsection 11b, Article XI of the Oregon Consti-



tution, on any tax, fee, charge or assessmentthat is imposed under a resolution or ordi-nance approved by the governing body of alocal government unit, the petition shall befiled within 60 days after the action of thegoverning body approving the ordinance orresolution, adopting a new ordinance or res-olution or changing an existing ordinance orresolution under which the tax, fee, chargeor assessment is imposed, if the resolutionor ordinance includes a classification of thetax, fee, charge or assessment as subject toor not subject to section 11 or 11b, ArticleXI of the Oregon Constitution. If the localgovernment unit has not classified the tax,fee, charge or assessment, the petition shallbe filed within 60 days after the later of:

(A) The last date, but no later than No-vember 15, that the tax statements weremailed for the tax year in which the tax, fee,charge or assessment was imposed; or

(B) The date of imposition of the tax, fee,charge or assessment on the petitioner.

(b) If the local government unit adoptsan ordinance or resolution classifying all orany of the taxes, fees, charges or assessmentsit imposes as subject to or not subject tosection 11 or 11b, Article XI of the OregonConstitution, as described in ORS 310.145,the petition shall be filed within 60 days af-ter the governing body adopts the ordinanceor resolution.

(5) In the case of a question concerningany tax, fee, charge or assessment that ischaracterized by the local government unitas an assessment for local improvements, thepetition shall be filed within 60 days afterthe local government unit gives notice of itsintention to characterize the charge as anassessment for local improvements. Noticemay be given to affected property owners bythe local government unit either when a lo-cal improvement district is formed, in a no-tice of intent to assess given by the localgovernment unit or by other individual no-tice prior to assessment. Notice shall begiven no later than the date the assessmentis imposed. Notice given as provided underthis subsection is in lieu of the notice re-quired under subsection (9) of this section.

(6) In the case of a question concerningany taxes levied to pay principal and intereston bonded indebtedness approved by the gov-erning body of a local government unit, thepetition shall be filed within 60 days afterthe date the issuance of the bonded indebt-edness was approved by the governing bodyof the local government unit if the resolutionor ordinance of the governing body authoriz-ing issuance of the bonded indebtedness in-cludes a classification of the bondedindebtedness as subject to or not subject tothe limits of section 11 or 11b, Article XI of

the Oregon Constitution. If the local govern-ment unit has not classified the bonded in-debtedness, the petition shall be filed within60 days after the date specified in subsection(4)(a) of this section.

(7) In the case of a question concerningany taxes levied to pay principal and intereston bonded indebtedness not subject to thelimits of section 11 or 11b, Article XI of theOregon Constitution, that was approved bythe electors of the local government unit atan election held on or after September 29,1991, the petition shall be filed within 60days after the date of the election at whichthe question of issuing the bonded indebted-ness was approved by the electors of the lo-cal government unit.

(8) In the case of a question concerningthe effect of section 11 or 11b, Article XI ofthe Oregon Constitution, on any tax, fee,charge or assessment imposed by the state,the petition shall be filed within 60 days af-ter the first imposition of the tax, fee, chargeor assessment by a state agency. For pur-poses of this subsection, a tax, fee, charge orassessment shall be considered imposed whenit is due as provided by statute or when thestate agency notifies a person that the tax,fee, charge or assessment is due.

(9) A local government unit:(a) Shall give notice of its adoption of an

ordinance or resolution classifying any of itstaxes, fees, charges or assessments as notbeing subject to the limits of section 11 or11b, Article XI of the Oregon Constitution,by publishing, within 15 days after adoptionof the ordinance or resolution, an advertise-ment in a newspaper of general circulationin the county in which the local governmentunit is located or, if there is no newspaperof general circulation, in a newspaper ofgeneral circulation in a contiguous county.

(b) May give notice of its adoption of anordinance or resolution specifying the au-thorized uses of the proceeds of bonded in-debtedness by publishing, within 15 daysafter adoption of the ordinance or resolution,an advertisement in a newspaper of generalcirculation in the county in which the localgovernment unit is located or, if there is nonewspaper of general circulation, in a news-paper of general circulation in a contiguouscounty.

(10) A notice described in subsection (9)of this section shall:

(a) Appear in the general news sectionof the newspaper, not in the classified ad-vertisements;

(b) Measure at least three inches square;(c) Be printed in a type size at least

equal to 8-point type; and



(d) State that the local government unithas adopted a resolution or ordinance:

(A) Classifying one or more of its taxes,fees, charges or assessments as not beingsubject to the limits of section 11 or 11b,Article XI of the Oregon Constitution, thatthe reader may contact a designated individ-ual within the local government unit to ob-tain a copy of the ordinance or resolutionand that judicial review of the classificationof the taxes, fees, charges or assessmentsmay be sought within 60 days of the date ofthe resolution or ordinance; or

(B) Specifying the authorized uses of theproceeds of bonded indebtedness, that thereader may contact a designated individualwithin the local government unit to obtain acopy of the ordinance or resolution and thatjudicial review of the specification of au-thorized uses may be sought within 60 daysof the date of the resolution or ordinance.

(11) An ordinance or resolution that re-sults in a mere change in the amount of atax, fee, charge or assessment and does notresult in a change in the characteristics orattributes of the tax, fee, charge or assess-ment, or contain a change in purpose towhich the revenue is applied, may not beconsidered a change that may result in aproceeding commenced under subsection (4)of this section.

(12) In the case of a question concerningthe authorized uses of the proceeds of bondedindebtedness, the petition must be filedwithin 60 days after the adoption of the or-dinance or resolution described in subsection(9)(b) of this section or, if the governing bodyhas not published the notice described insubsection (9)(b) of this section, the petitionmust be filed within 180 days after the ques-tioned use of the proceeds is made. [1991 c.459§26; 1993 c.18 §66; 1993 c.270 §19; 1995 c.79 §110; 1995c.650 §73; 1997 c.541 §§78,78a,79,79a; 1999 c.340 §9; 2003c.195 §20; 2005 c.225 §5; 2005 c.443 §18; 2011 c.256 §3]

305.585 Local government petitionsconcerning taxes of another local gov-ernment under 1990 Measure 5; mannerand time for filing. (1) A local governmentunit may petition the regular division of theOregon Tax Court to determine whether thelimits of section 11b, Article XI of the Ore-gon Constitution apply to a tax, fee, chargeor assessment of another local governmentunit if the boundaries of both units includecommon territory and if the petitioning localgovernment unit will lose or has lost revenuebecause of the tax, fee, charge or assessmentthat is the subject of the petition.

(2) The petitioner shall file a petitionwith the clerk of the tax court at its princi-pal office in Salem, Oregon. The petitionshall name the local government unit thatimposes the tax, fee, charge or assessment as

respondent. Such filing in the tax court shallconstitute the perfection of the petition. Theclerk of the tax court shall serve the re-spondent local government unit by mailing acopy of the petition to the recording officeror chief administrative officer of the localgovernment unit. The clerk also shall servea copy of the petition upon the Oregon De-partment of Justice.

(3) The petition shall state the facts andgrounds upon which the petitioner contendsthat the tax, fee, charge or assessment at is-sue is not subject to the limits of section 11b,Article XI of the Oregon Constitution. Thecase shall proceed thereafter in the mannerprovided for appeals concerning ad valoremproperty tax assessments. ORS 305.405 to305.494 shall apply to such actions.

(4) The petition shall be filed not laterthan 30 days after the date the respondentlocal government unit filed its certificate re-quired under ORS 310.060 with the countyassessor. [1991 c.459 §26a; 1995 c.79 §111; 1995 c.650§74; 1999 c.340 §10; 2005 c.225 §6]

305.586 Legislative findings; policy onremedies for misspent bond proceeds. (1)The Legislative Assembly finds that, whengeneral obligation bonds are issued by agovernment unit to finance the cost of capi-tal construction or improvements, subjectingthe taxes imposed to pay the principal andinterest on that bonded indebtedness to thelimits of section 11b (1), Article XI of theOregon Constitution, reduces the creditquality of the bonds, injures bondholders andincreases the cost of borrowing for all localgovernments in Oregon. The Legislative As-sembly also finds that it is in the best inter-ests of the State of Oregon and localgovernments in Oregon to ensure that, if alocal government body expends proceedsfrom such bonds for other than capital con-struction or improvements, the holders of thebonds, who are innocent with regard to suchexpenditure, will not suffer impairment oftheir security and interest in the bonds as aresult.

(2) It is the policy of the State of Oregonand a matter of statewide concern that, not-withstanding ORS 305.587 (1) and 305.589 (8),if in a proceeding commenced under ORS305.583 or 305.589, the Oregon Tax Courtfinds that the proceeds of general obligationbonds issued for capital construction or im-provements under section 11b (3)(b), ArticleXI of the Oregon Constitution, have beenexpended for purposes other than capitalconstruction or improvements, the courtshall endeavor, to the fullest extent practi-cable and consistent with equitable princi-ples, to fashion a remedy that does notimpair the security or value of the bonds tothe bondholders and does not prejudice the



ability of the local government body to sat-isfy its obligations under the bonds.

(3) In addition, the court shall fashionany remedy in a manner that takes into ac-count the financial capacity and practicalalternatives available to the local govern-ment body, and shall ensure that the remedyis proportional to, and restricted to correct-ing the amount of, any unlawful expenditureof bond proceeds. To the fullest extent possi-ble, the court shall avoid any remedy thateither invalidates, in whole or in part, thebonds or taxes levied or to be levied for pay-ment of the bonds, or that makes any amountof the bonds for which the proceeds lawfullywere expended subject to the limits of sec-tion 11b (1), Article XI of the Oregon Con-stitution. [1997 c.171 §5]

305.587 Tax court findings; orders; re-funds; bond measure construction; otherrelief. (1) If, in a proceeding commenced un-der ORS 305.583, the regular division of theOregon Tax Court finds that a challengedtax, fee, charge or assessment is subject tothe limits of section 11 or 11b, Article XI ofthe Oregon Constitution, the tax court may:

(a) Order the government unit to makerefunds to petitioners of any part of thechallenged tax, fee, charge or assessmentimposed on or after the date that is 90 daysbefore the date the petition was filed andthat was collected in excess of the limits ofsection 11 or 11b, Article XI of the OregonConstitution. The tax court may not orderrefunds if the government unit previouslyhad obtained a judgment of the tax court orthe Oregon Supreme Court under ORS305.589, that the tax, fee, charge or assess-ment in question was not subject to the lim-its of section 11 or 11b, Article XI of theOregon Constitution.

(b) Order such other relief as it considersappropriate, including cancellation of taxesimposed but not collected, but such reliefshall have prospective effect only. In casesinvolving local government units, a copy ofthe tax court’s order shall be served uponthe assessor of the county or counties inwhich the local government unit is locatedat the same time the order is served uponthe parties.

(2) If the tax court orders a unit of gov-ernment to make refunds of any tax, fee,charge or assessment that was imposed andcollected in excess of the limits of section 11or 11b, Article XI of the Oregon Constitu-tion, the government unit shall do so out ofthe resources of the government unit. No re-fund so ordered shall be paid from the un-segregated tax collections account. Theassessor shall not be required to recomputethe amount of tax due from any property orproperty owner with respect to the tax, fee,

charge or assessment that is the subject ofthe order for any tax year for which a taxstatement has been delivered under ORS311.250.

(3) If, in a proceeding commenced underORS 305.585, the tax court finds that a tax,fee, charge or assessment is not subject tothe limits of section 11 or 11b, Article XI ofthe Oregon Constitution, the tax court mayorder such relief as it considers appropriate,but such relief shall have prospective effectonly. In cases involving local governmentunits, a copy of the tax court’s order shallbe served upon the assessor of the county orcounties in which the local government unitis located at the same time the order isserved upon the parties. The assessor shallnot be required to recompute the amount oftax due from any property or property ownerwith respect to the tax, fee, charge or as-sessment that is the subject of the order forany tax year for which a tax statement hasbeen delivered under ORS 311.250.

(4) For purposes of this section, taxes,fees, charges or assessments are deemed im-posed when the statement or bill for thetaxes, fees, charges or assessments is mailed.

(5) In the case of a question concerningthe authorized uses of the proceeds of bondedindebtedness, the tax court shall construethe provisions of the measure authorizing thebonded indebtedness and the use of the pro-ceeds liberally to allow the government unitto provide the facilities or services approvedby the voters.

(6) If, in a proceeding commenced underORS 305.583, the regular division of the taxcourt finds that a use of the proceeds ofbonded indebtedness is not authorized by theapplicable law, the tax court may prohibitthe expenditure or proceed in accordancewith ORS 305.586. [1991 c.459 §26b; 1993 c.270 §20;1997 c.541 §84; 1999 c.340 §11; 2003 c.195 §21]

305.589 Judicial declarations; petitionby local government; notice; interven-tion; appeal; remedies; costs. (1) A localgovernment unit or an association of localgovernment units acting for the commonbenefit of and on behalf of consenting mem-bers may petition the regular division of theOregon Tax Court for a judicial declarationof the court concerning a question describedin ORS 305.580.

(2) Notice of the commencement of aproceeding under this section shall be givenby the petitioner or petitioners by publica-tion of notice directed to all electors, tax-payers and other interested persons, withoutnaming such electors, taxpayers or other in-terested persons individually. The noticeshall be published at least once a week forthree successive weeks in a newspaper ofgeneral circulation within the boundaries of



the local government unit and each of theconsenting members of the association of lo-cal government units, if any, or if no suchnewspaper is published therein, then in acontiguous county.

(3) The petitioner or petitioners mayelect to give further notice to affected elec-tors, taxpayers and other interested persons,or the court may order such further noticeas the court considers practicable.

(4) The action authorized by this sectionshall be a special proceeding in the natureof an ex parte proceeding in the absence ofthe intervention of a respondent in oppo-sition to the petition.

(5) Jurisdiction of the local governmentunit and of consenting members of an asso-ciation of local government units shall beobtained by filing of the petition. Jurisdictionover the electors, taxpayers and other inter-ested persons shall be complete 10 days afterthe date of completing publication of the no-tice provided for in subsection (2) of thissection, or giving of any further notice asprovided for in subsection (3) of this section.Jurisdiction of any other party shall be ob-tained by appearance of any interested per-son who seeks and is granted leave tointervene in the proceeding.

(6)(a) Any elector, taxpayer or interestedperson or local government unit that may beaffected by the tax, fee, charge or assessmentthat is the subject of the petition may inter-vene as a petitioner or respondent by filingthe appropriate appearance.

(b) Any elector, taxpayer or interestedperson or local government unit that may beaffected by the use of the proceeds of thebonded indebtedness or a person that is sub-ject to a tax, fee, charge or assessment thatis pledged to secure or available for paymentof the bonded indebtedness that is the sub-ject of the petition may intervene as a peti-tioner or respondent by filing the appropriateappearance.

(7) Any party to a proceeding commencedunder this section, including a consentingmember of an association of local govern-ment units that was a party to the proceed-ing, may appeal from the judgment renderedby the tax court to the Oregon SupremeCourt in the manner provided for appealsfrom other decisions of the tax court underORS 305.445.

(8)(a) If, in a proceeding commenced un-der this section, the court finds that a tax,fee, charge or assessment is subject to thelimits of section 11b, Article XI of the Ore-gon Constitution, the court may order such

relief as it considers appropriate, but suchrelief shall be prospective only.

(b) If, in a proceeding commenced underthis section, the court finds that a use of theproceeds of bonded indebtedness is not au-thorized, the tax court may prohibit the ex-penditure or proceed in accordance with ORS305.586.

(9) Costs of the proceeding may be al-lowed and apportioned between the parties inthe discretion of the court.

(10) As used in this section:(a) “Association of local government

units” means an association, or any otherlawful organization, composed of member lo-cal government units organized for the mu-tual benefit of such local government units.

(b) “Consenting member” means a mem-ber of an association of local governmentunits who affirmatively consents, throughfiling of a consenting certificate with the taxcourt, to the commencement of a proceedingunder this section.

(c) “Local government unit” means anyunit of local government, including a city,county, incorporated town or village, schooldistrict, any other special district, or anyother municipal or quasi-municipal corpo-ration, intergovernmental authority createdpursuant to ORS 190.010, a district as definedin ORS 198.010, 198.180 and 198.210 or anurban renewal agency established under ORS457.035. [1991 c.459 §27; 1993 c.270 §21; 1999 c.340 §12;2003 c.195 §22; 2003 c.576 §250; 2005 c.22 §226]

305.591 Court determination that 1990Measure 5 tax limit is inapplicable; col-lection of tax; appeal; stay denied. (1) If acourt of competent jurisdiction determinesthat all or any part of section 11b, ArticleXI of the Oregon Constitution does not applyto a tax on property, the court may order theassessor, tax collector or other appropriatepublic official to impose or collect that taxwithout regard to that portion of section 11b,Article XI of the Oregon Constitution thecourt determines to be inapplicable.

(2) When so ordered by a court, the as-sessor, tax collector or other public officialshall take all necessary action to impose orcollect the tax in compliance with the orderof the court.

(3) Appeal of a decision of a court thatall or any part of section 11b, Article XI ofthe Oregon Constitution does not apply toany tax shall not operate to stay any orderof the court directing a public official tocollect the tax without regard to the pro-visions of all or part of section 11b, ArticleXI of the Oregon Constitution. [1991 c.459 §28]



INTERGOVERNMENTAL TAX RELATIONS

(Federal and Other States)305.605 Application of tax laws within

federal areas in state. Where not incon-sistent with the Constitution and laws of theUnited States, notwithstanding any provisionof any other statute of this state, the lawsof this state relating to the imposition andcollection of taxes shall apply with respectto any property located, any sale, use ortransaction occurring, any income arising, orany person residing within any federal areasituated within the exterior boundaries ofthis state. [Formerly 306.240]

305.610 Reciprocal recognition of taxliability; actions in other states for Ore-gon taxes. (1) The courts of Oregon shallrecognize and enforce the liability for taxeslawfully imposed by the laws of any otherstate which extends a like comity in respectof the liability for taxes lawfully imposed bythe laws of this state. The officials of suchother state may bring action in the courts ofthis state for the collection of such taxes.The certificate of the Secretary of State ofsuch other state that such officials have theauthority to collect the taxes sought to becollected by such action shall be conclusiveproof of that authority.

(2) The Attorney General of Oregon, andcollection agencies when employed as pro-vided by ORS 825.508, are empowered tobring action in the courts of other states tocollect taxes legally due the State of Oregon.

(3) As used in this section, “taxes” in-cludes:

(a) Tax assessments lawfully madewhether they are based upon a return orother disclosure of the taxpayer, upon theinformation and belief of the taxing author-ity, or otherwise.

(b) Penalties lawfully imposed pursuantto a taxing statute.

(c) Interest charges lawfully added to thetax liability which constitutes the subject ofthe action.

(4) The Oregon Tax Court shall not havejurisdiction over actions brought pursuant tothis section. [Formerly 306.250; subsection (4) en-acted as 1961 c.533 §54; 1967 c.178 §4]

305.612 Reciprocal offset of tax re-funds in payment of liquidated debt orcertain amounts payable; rules. (1) TheDirector of the Department of Revenue mayenter into an intergovernmental reciprocalagreement with the United States FinancialManagement Service and the Internal Re-venue Service for the purpose of engaging inthe offset of federal tax refunds or other fed-eral payments in payment of liquidated state

debt or of amounts payable by a transfereeunder ORS 311.695 and the offset of state taxrefunds or other state payments in paymentof liquidated federal debt.

(2) The director may pay a fee chargedby the federal government for the processingof an offset request. The fee may be deductedfrom amounts remitted to the state by thefederal government pursuant to an intergov-ernmental reciprocal agreement. Theamount of the fee charged by the federalgovernment shall be added to the debt, in-terest and penalties or to the amounts pay-able under ORS 311.695, as applicable, owedby the debtor to the state.

(3) The Department of Revenue may byrule establish a fee to be charged to the fed-eral government for the provision of stateoffset services.

(4) All moneys received by the depart-ment in payment of charges made pursuantto subsection (3) of this section shall be de-posited in a department miscellaneous re-ceipts account established under ORS279A.290. [2001 c.28 §3; 2003 c.794 §254; 2009 c.797 §8;2011 c.476 §1; 2011 c.723 §15]


305.615 Apportionment of moneys re-ceived from United States in lieu ofproperty taxes. The Department of Revenueshall apportion annually to the state andcounties any moneys received by the statefrom the United States, or any agencythereof, as payments in lieu of ad valoremproperty taxes. Such moneys shall be appor-tioned in the same amounts and to the samegovernmental divisions as the taxes in lieuof which the payments are made would beapportioned if they were levied. [Formerly306.180]

(Local)305.620 Collection and distribution of

local taxes on income and sales; costs;court review of determinations and or-ders; appeals. (1) Any state agency or de-partment may enter into agreements withany political subdivision of this state for thecollection, enforcement, administration anddistribution of local taxes of the politicalsubdivision imposed upon or measured bygross or net income, wages or net earningsfrom self-employment or local general salesand use taxes.

(2) The department or agency shall pre-scribe the rules by which the agreementsentered into under subsection (1) of this sec-tion are administered.

(3) The department or agency shall pre-scribe the rules by which the taxes describedby subsection (1) of this section are adminis-tered, collected, enforced and distributed.



(4) A political subdivision may appear asan intervenor at any conference held by theDepartment of Revenue or conference, hear-ing or proceeding held by another depart-ment or agency in connection with a localtax administered by the department oragency. The political subdivision may berepresented by its own counsel. The depart-ment or agency shall adopt rules governingthe procedures to be followed by the politicalsubdivision in making an appearance.

(5) Costs incurred by the department oragency in the administration, enforcement,collection and distribution of taxes under theagreements entered into under subsection (1)of this section shall be first deducted fromthe taxes collected before distribution ismade to the political subdivision which is aparty to the agreement.

(6) The Oregon Tax Court shall have ex-clusive jurisdiction to review determinationsof the Department of Revenue or orders ofanother department or agency relating to thecollection, enforcement, administration anddistribution of local taxes under agreementsentered into under subsection (1) of this sec-tion.

(7) A proceeding for refund or to setaside additional taxes or taxes assessed whenno return was filed may be initiated beforethe state agency or department.

(8) An appeal from a determination or anorder may be taken by the taxpayer or by thepolitical subdivision whose taxes are in issue,by filing a complaint with the clerk of theOregon Tax Court at its principal office inSalem, Oregon, within 60 days after the no-tice of the determination of the Departmentof Revenue or the order of the departmentor agency is sent to the taxpayer or the pol-itical subdivision. The filing of the complaintin the Oregon Tax Court shall constituteperfection of the appeal. Service of thetaxpayer’s complaint shall be accomplishedby the clerk of the tax court by filing a copyof the complaint with the administrativehead of the department or agency and a copywith the political subdivision. Service of thepolitical subdivision’s complaint shall be ac-complished by the clerk of the tax court byfiling a copy of the complaint with the ad-ministrative head of the department oragency and mailing a copy of the complaintto the taxpayer. The complaint of a taxpayershall be entitled in the name of the personfiling as plaintiff and the department oragency as defendant. The complaint of a pol-itical subdivision shall be entitled in thename of the political subdivision as plaintiffand the taxpayer and the department oragency as defendants. A copy of the order ofthe department or agency shall be attachedto the complaint. All procedures shall be in

accordance with ORS 305.405 to 305.494. [1967c.550 §§12,13,14,15; 1969 c.574 §5; 1971 c.261 §1; 1971 c.600§3; 1973 c.98 §1; 1983 c.749 §4; 1985 c.407 §3; 1995 c.79§112; 1995 c.650 §62; 1997 c.325 §15; 1999 c.21 §12; 2003c.621 §78; 2005 c.225 §7; 2005 c.345 §10; 2009 c.33 §7]

305.625 State and political subdivisionsare employers for purpose of withholdingcity or county income tax. If the ordi-nances of any city or county in this stateprovide for the collection of an income tax,in whole or in part, by imposing on employ-ers generally the duty of withholding sumsfrom the compensation of individuals em-ployed within the boundaries of the city orcounty and making returns of such sums tothe authorities of such cities or counties,then the State of Oregon or any politicalsubdivision is considered to be an employeras to its employees who come within the ju-risdictional limits of the ordinance of thecity or county. [1969 c.574 §1]

305.630 Compliance with city orcounty income tax ordinance required.The head of each branch, department oragency of the government of the State ofOregon or a political subdivision (whetherexecutive, legislative or judicial) shall com-ply with requirements of such city or countyordinance in the case of employees of suchbranch, department or agency who are sub-ject to such tax and whose regular place ofemployment is within the city or county,pursuant to an agreement made under ORS305.620. [1969 c.574 §2]

305.635 Rate of withholding to be des-ignated by city or county; forms. The cityor county shall designate clearly the rate ofwithholding to be used by the State of Ore-gon or political subdivision and shall provideforms acceptable to the state or politicalsubdivision to be used in reporting andremitting taxes withheld pursuant to theagreement. [1969 c.574 §3]

305.640 Discrimination among em-ployers prohibited. Nothing in ORS 305.620to 305.640 consents to the application of anylaw that has the effect of imposing moreburdensome requirements on the State ofOregon or a political subdivision than it im-poses on other employers, or that has the ef-fect of subjecting the State of Oregon or apolitical subdivision, or any of its officers oremployees, to any penalty or liability by rea-son of ORS 305.620 to 305.640. [1969 c.574 §4]

305.645 Department of Revenue toprovide services to political subdivisions.If a political subdivision of this state imposesa tax on or measured by income as deter-mined under ORS chapter 316, 317 or 318,the Department of Revenue shall provide tothe political subdivision, at the request ofthe political subdivision, collection, enforce-ment, administration and distribution ser-



vices for the tax in the manner provided inORS 305.620. [2007 c.864 §6]


MULTISTATE TAX COMPACT305.655 Multistate Tax Compact. The

Multistate Tax Compact is hereby enactedinto law and entered into on behalf of thisstate with all other jurisdictions legallyjoining therein in a form substantially asfollows:__________________________________________

ARTICLE IPURPOSES

The purposes of this compact are to:1. Facilitate proper determination of

state and local tax liability of multistatetaxpayers, including the equitable apportion-ment of tax bases and settlement of appor-tionment disputes.

2. Promote uniformity or compatibility insignificant components of tax systems.

3. Facilitate taxpayer convenience andcompliance in the filing of tax returns and inother phases of tax administration.

4. Avoid duplicative taxation.

ARTICLE IIDEFINITIONS

As used in this compact:1. “State” means a state of the United

States, the District of Columbia, the Com-monwealth of Puerto Rico, or any territoryor possession of the United States.

2. “Subdivision” means any governmentalunit or special district of a state.

3. “Taxpayer” means any corporation,partnership, firm, association, governmentalunit or agency or person acting as a businessentity in more than one state.

4. “Income tax” means a tax imposed onor measured by net income including any taximposed on or measured by an amount ar-rived at by deducting expenses from grossincome, one or more forms of which expensesare not specifically and directly related toparticular transactions.

5. “Capital stock tax” means a tax meas-ured in any way by the capital of a corpo-ration considered in its entirety.

6. “Gross receipts tax” means a tax,other than a sales tax, which is imposed onor measured by the gross volume of business,

in terms of gross receipts or in other terms,and in the determination of which no de-duction is allowed which would constitutethe tax an income tax.

7. “Sales tax” means a tax imposed withrespect to the transfer for a consideration ofownership, possession or custody of tangiblepersonal property or the rendering of ser-vices measured by the price of the tangiblepersonal property transferred or servicesrendered and which is required by state orlocal law to be separately stated from thesales price by the seller, or which is custom-arily separately stated from the sales price,but does not include a tax imposed exclu-sively on the sale of a specifically identifiedcommodity or article or class of commoditiesor articles.

8. “Use tax” means a nonrecurring tax,other than a sales tax, which (a) is imposedon or with respect to the exercise or enjoy-ment of any right or power over tangiblepersonal property incident to the ownership,possession or custody of that property or theleasing of that property from another includ-ing any consumption, keeping, retention, orother use of tangible personal property and(b) is complementary to a sales tax.

9. “Tax” means an income tax, capitalstock tax, gross receipts tax, sales tax, usetax, and any other tax which has a multi-state impact, except that the provisions ofArticles III, IV and V of this compact shallapply only to the taxes specifically desig-nated therein and the provisions of ArticleIX of this compact shall apply only in respectto determinations pursuant to Article IV.

ARTICLE IIIELEMENTS OF

INCOME TAX LAWS

1. Taxpayer option, state and local taxes.Any taxpayer subject to an income tax whoseincome is subject to apportionment and allo-cation for tax purposes pursuant to the lawsof a party state or pursuant to the laws ofsubdivisions in two or more party states mayelect to apportion and allocate his income inthe manner provided by the laws of suchstate or by the laws of such states and sub-divisions without reference to this compact,or may elect to apportion and allocate in ac-cordance with Article IV. This election forany tax year may be made in all party statesor subdivisions thereof or in any one or moreof the party states or subdivisions thereofwithout reference to the election made in theothers. For the purposes of this paragraph,taxes imposed by subdivisions shall be con-sidered separately from state taxes and theapportionment and allocation also may be



applied to the entire tax base. In no instancewherein Article IV is employed for all subdi-visions of a state may the sum of all appor-tionments and allocations to subdivisionswithin a state be greater than the apportion-ment and allocation that would be assignableto that state if the apportionment or allo-cation were being made with respect to astate income tax.

2. Taxpayer option, short form. Eachparty state or any subdivision thereof whichimposes an income tax shall provide by lawthat any taxpayer required to file a return,whose only activities within the taxing ju-risdiction consist of sales and do not includeowning or renting real estate or tangiblepersonal property, and whose dollar volumeof gross sales made during the tax yearwithin the state or subdivision, as the casemay be, is not in excess of $100,000 may electto report and pay any tax due on the basisof a percentage of such volume, and shalladopt rates which shall produce a tax whichreasonably approximates the tax otherwisedue. The Multistate Tax Commission, notmore than once in five years, may adjust the$100,000 figure in order to reflect suchchanges as may occur in the real value ofthe dollar, and such adjusted figure, uponadoption by the commission, shall replace the$100,000 figure specifically provided herein.Each party state and subdivision thereof maymake the same election available to taxpay-ers additional to those specified in this para-graph.

3. Coverage. Nothing in this Article re-lates to the reporting or payment of any taxother than an income tax.

ARTICLE IVDIVISION OF INCOME

1. As used in this Article, unless thecontext otherwise requires:

(a) “Business income” means incomearising from transactions and activity in theregular course of the taxpayer’s trade orbusiness and includes income from tangibleand intangible property if the acquisition,management, and disposition of the propertyconstitute integral parts of the taxpayer’sregular trade or business operations.

(b) “Commercial domicile” means theprincipal place from which the trade orbusiness of the taxpayer is directed or man-aged.

(c) “Compensation” means wages, sala-ries, commissions and any other form of re-muneration paid to employees for personalservices.

(d) “Financial organization” means anybank, trust company, savings bank, industrial

bank, land bank, safe deposit company, pri-vate banker, savings and loan association,credit union, cooperative bank, small loancompany, sales finance company, investmentcompany, or any type of insurance company.

(e) “Nonbusiness income” means all in-come other than business income.

(f) “Public utility” means any businessentity (1) which owns or operates any plant,equipment, property, franchise, or license forthe transmission of communications, trans-portation of goods or persons, except by pipeline, or the production, transmission, sale,delivery, or furnishing of electricity, wateror steam; and (2) whose rates of charges forgoods or services have been established orapproved by a federal, state or local govern-ment or governmental agency.

(g) “Sales” means all gross receipts of thetaxpayer not allocated under paragraphs ofthis Article.

(h) “State” means any state of the UnitedStates, the District of Columbia, the Com-monwealth of Puerto Rico, any territory orpossession of the United States, and any for-eign country or political subdivision thereof.

(i) “This state” means the state in whichthe relevant tax return is filed or, in the caseof application of this Article to the appor-tionment and allocation of income for localtax purposes, the subdivision or local taxingdistrict in which the relevant tax return isfiled.

2. Any taxpayer having income frombusiness activity which is taxable bothwithin and without this state, other than ac-tivity as a financial organization or publicutility or the rendering of purely personalservices by an individual, shall allocate andapportion his net income as provided in thisArticle. If a taxpayer has income from busi-ness activity as a public utility but derivesthe greater percentage of his income fromactivities subject to this Article, the tax-payer may elect to allocate and apportion hisentire net income as provided in this Article.

3. For purposes of allocation and appor-tionment of income under this Article, ataxpayer is taxable in another state if (1) inthat state he is subject to a net income tax,a franchise tax measured by net income, afranchise tax for the privilege of doing busi-ness, or a corporate stock tax, or (2) thatstate has jurisdiction to subject the taxpayerto a net income tax regardless of whether, infact, the state does or does not.

4. Rents and royalties from real or tangi-ble personal property, capital gains, interest,dividends or patent or copyright royalties, tothe extent that they constitute nonbusinessincome, shall be allocated as provided inparagraphs 5 through 8 of this Article.



5. (a) Net rents and royalties from realproperty located in this state are allocable tothis state.

(b) Net rents and royalties from tangiblepersonal property are allocable to this state:(1) if and to the extent that the property isutilized in this state, or (2) in their entiretyif the taxpayer’s commercial domicile is inthis state and the taxpayer is not organizedunder the laws of or taxable in the state inwhich the property is utilized.

(c) The extent of utilization of tangiblepersonal property in a state is determined bymultiplying the rents and royalties by afraction, the numerator of which is the num-ber of days of physical location of the prop-erty in the state during the rental or royaltyperiod in the taxable year and the denomi-nator of which is the number of days ofphysical location of the property everywhereduring all rental of royalty periods in thetaxable year. If the physical location of theproperty during the rental or royalty periodis unknown or unascertainable by the tax-payer, tangible personal property is utilizedin the state in which the property was lo-cated at the time the rental or royalty payerobtained possession.

6. (a) Capital gains and losses from salesof real property located in this state areallocable to this state.

(b) Capital gains and losses from sales oftangible personal property are allocable tothis state if (1) the property had a situs inthis state at the time of the sale, or (2) thetaxpayer’s commercial domicile is in thisstate and the taxpayer is not taxable in thestate in which the property had a situs.

(c) Except in the case of the sale of apartnership interest, capital gains and lossesfrom sales of intangible personal property areallocable to this state if the taxpayer’s com-mercial domicile is in this state.

(d) Gain or loss from the sale of a part-nership interest is allocable to this state inthe ratio of the original cost of partnershiptangible property in the state to the originalcost of partnership tangible property every-where, determined at the time of the sale. Inthe event that more than 50 percent of thevalue of a partnership’s assets consists of in-tangibles, gain or loss from the sale of thepartnership interest shall be allocated to thisstate in accordance with the sales factor ofthe partnership for its first full tax year im-mediately preceding its tax year duringwhich the partnership interest was sold.

7. Interest and dividends are allocable tothis state if the taxpayer’s commercialdomicile is in this state.

8. (a) Patent and copyright royalties areallocable to this state: (1) if and to the extent

that the patent or copyright is utilized by thepayer in this state, or (2) if and to the extentthat the patent copyright is utilized by thepayer in a state in which the taxpayer is nottaxable and the taxpayer’s commercialdomicile is in this state.

(b) A patent is utilized in a state to theextent that it is employed in production, fab-rication, manufacturing, or other processingin the state or to the extent that a patentedproduct is produced in the state. If the basisof receipts from patent royalties does notpermit allocation to states or if the account-ing procedures do not reflect states of utili-zation, the patent is utilized in the state inwhich the taxpayer’s commercial domicile islocated.

(c) A copyright is utilized in a state tothe extent that printing or other publicationoriginates in the state. If the basis of re-ceipts from copyright royalties does not per-mit allocation to states or if the accountingprocedures do not reflect states of utilization,the copyright is utilized in the state in whichthe taxpayer’s commercial domicile is lo-cated.

9. All business income shall be appor-tioned to this state by multiplying the in-come by a fraction, the numerator of whichis the property factor plus the payroll factorplus the sales factor, and the denominator ofwhich is three.

10. The property factor is a fraction, thenumerator of which is the average value ofthe taxpayer’s real and tangible personalproperty owned or rented and used in thisstate during the tax period and the denomi-nator of which is the average value of all thetaxpayer’s real and tangible personal prop-erty owned or rented and used during the taxperiod.

11. Property owned by the taxpayer isvalued at its original cost. Property rentedby the taxpayer is valued at eight times thenet annual rental rate. Net annual rentalrate is the annual rental rate paid by thetaxpayer less any annual rental rate receivedby the taxpayer from subrentals.

12. The average value of property shallbe determined by averaging the values at thebeginning and ending of the tax period butthe tax administrator may require the aver-aging of monthly values during the tax pe-riod if reasonably required to reflect properlythe average value of the taxpayer’s property.

13. The payroll factor is a fraction, thenumerator of which is the total amount paidin this state during the tax period by thetaxpayer for compensation and the denomi-nator of which is the total compensation paideverywhere during the tax period.

14. Compensation is paid in this state if:



(a) the individual’s service is performedentirely within the state;

(b) the individual’s service is performedboth within and without the state, but theservice performed without the state is inci-dental to the individual’s service within thestate; or

(c) some of the service is performed inthe state and (1) the base of operations or, ifthere is no base of operations, the place fromwhich the service is directed or controlled isin the state, or (2) the base of operations orthe place from which the service is directedor controlled is not in any state in whichsome part of the service is performed, but theindividual’s residence is in this state.

15. The sales factor is a fraction, the nu-merator of which is the total sales of thetaxpayer in this state during the tax period,and the denominator of which is the totalsales of the taxpayer everywhere during thetax period.

16. Sales of tangible personal propertyare in this state if:

(a) the property is delivered or shipped toa purchaser, other than the United StatesGovernment, within this state regardless ofthe f.o.b. point or other conditions of thesale; or

(b) the property is shipped from an office,store, warehouse, factory, or other place ofstorage in this state and (1) the purchaser isthe United States Government or (2) thetaxpayer is not taxable in the state of thepurchaser.

17. Sales, other than sales of tangiblepersonal property, are in this state if:

(a) the income-producing activity is per-formed in this state; or

(b) the income-producing activity is per-formed both in and outside this state and agreater proportion of the income-producingactivity is performed in this state than inany other state, based on costs of perform-ance.

18. If the allocation and apportionmentprovisions of this Article do not fairly repre-sent the extent of the taxpayer’s businessactivity in this state, the taxpayer may peti-tion for or the tax administrator may re-quire, in respect to all or any part of thetaxpayer’s business activity, if reasonable:

(a) separate accounting;(b) the exclusion of any one or more of

the factors;(c) the inclusion of one or more addi-

tional factors which will fairly represent thetaxpayer’s business activity in this state; or

(d) the employment of any other methodto effectuate an equitable allocation and ap-portionment of the taxpayer’s income.

ARTICLE VELEMENTS OF SALES AND

USE TAX LAWS

1. Tax credit. Each purchaser liable fora use tax on tangible personal property shallbe entitled to full credit for the combinedamount or amounts of legally imposed salesor use taxes paid by him with respect to thesame property to another state and any sub-division thereof. The credit shall be appliedfirst against the amount of any use tax duethe state, and any unused portion of thecredit shall then be applied against theamount of any use tax due a subdivision.

2. Exemption certificates, vendors mayrely. Whenever a vendor receives and ac-cepts in good faith from a purchaser a resaleor other exemption certificate or other writ-ten evidence of exemption authorized by theappropriate state or subdivision taxing au-thority, the vendor shall be relieved of li-ability for a sales or use tax with respect tothe transaction.

ARTICLE VITHE COMMISSION

1. Organization and management. (a) TheMultistate Tax Commission is hereby estab-lished. It shall be composed of one“member” from each party state who shallbe the head of the state agency charged withthe administration of the types of taxes towhich this compact applies. If there is morethan one such agency the state shall provideby law for the selection of the commissionmember from the heads of the relevantagencies. State law may provide that a mem-ber of the commission be represented by analternate but only if there is on file with thecommission written notification of the desig-nation and identity of the alternate. The At-torney General of each party state or hisdesignee, or other counsel if the laws of theparty state specifically provide, shall be en-titled to attend the meetings of the commis-sion, but shall not vote. Such AttorneysGeneral, designees or other counsel shall re-ceive all notices of meetings required underparagraph 1 (e) of this Article.

(b) Each party state shall provide by lawfor the selection of representatives from itssubdivisions affected by this compact to con-sult with the commission member from thatstate.



(c) Each member shall be entitled to onevote. The commission shall not act unless amajority of the members are present, and noaction shall be binding unless approved by amajority of the total number of members.

(d) The commission shall adopt an officialseal to be used as it may provide.

(e) The commission shall hold an annualmeeting and such other regular meetings asits bylaws may provide and such specialmeetings as its Executive Committee maydetermine. The commission bylaws shallspecify the dates of the annual and any otherregular meetings, and shall provide for thegiving of notice of annual, regular and spe-cial meetings. Notices of special meetingsshall include the reasons therefor and anagenda of the items to be considered.

(f) The commission shall elect annually,from among its members, a Chairman, a ViceChairman and a Treasurer. The commissionshall appoint an Executive Director whoshall serve at its pleasure, and it shall fix hisduties and compensation. The Executive Di-rector shall be secretary of the commission.The commission shall make provision for thebonding of such of its officers and employeesas it may deem appropriate.

(g) Irrespective of the civil service, per-sonnel or other merit system laws of anyparty state, the Executive Director shall ap-point or discharge such personnel as may benecessary for the performance of the func-tions of the commission and shall fix theirduties and compensation. The commissionbylaws shall provide for personnel policiesand programs.

(h) The commission may borrow, acceptor contract for the services of personnel fromany state, the United States or any othergovernmental entity.

(i) The commission may accept for anyof its purposes and functions any and all do-nations and grants of money, equipment,supplies, materials and services, conditionalor otherwise, from any governmental entity,and may utilize and dispose of the same.

(j) The commission may establish one ormore offices for the transacting of its busi-ness.

(k) The commission shall adopt bylawsfor the conduct of its business. The commis-sion shall publish its bylaws in convenientform, and shall file a copy of the bylaws andany amendments thereto with the appropri-ate agency or officer in each of the partystates.

(L) The commission annually shall maketo the Governor and legislature of each partystate a report covering its activities for thepreceding year. Any donation or grant ac-cepted by the commission or services bor-

rowed shall be reported in the annual reportof the commission, and shall include the na-ture, amount and conditions, if any, of thedonation, gift, grant or services borrowedand the identity of the donor or lender. Thecommission may make additional reports asit may deem desirable.

2. Committees. (a) To assist in the con-duct of its business when the full commissionis not meeting, the commission shall have anExecutive Committee of seven members, in-cluding the Chairman, Vice Chairman,Treasurer and four other members electedannually by the commission. The ExecutiveCommittee, subject to the provisions of thiscompact and consistent with the policies ofthe commission, shall function as provided inthe bylaws of the commission.

(b) The commission may establish advi-sory and technical committees, membershipon which may include private persons andpublic officials, in furthering any of its ac-tivities. Such committees may consider anymatter of concern to the commission, includ-ing problems of special interest to any partystate and problems dealing with particulartypes of taxes.

(c) The commission may establish suchadditional committees as its bylaws may pro-vide.

3. Powers. In addition to powers con-ferred elsewhere in this compact, the com-mission shall have power to:

(a) Study state and local tax systems andparticular types of state and local taxes.

(b) Develop and recommend proposals foran increase in uniformity or compatibility ofstate and local tax laws with a view towardencouraging the simplification and improve-ment of state and local tax law and adminis-tration.

(c) Compile and publish information as inits judgment would assist the party states inimplementation of the compact and taxpayersin complying with state and local tax laws.

(d) Do all things necessary and incidentalto the administration of its functions pursu-ant to this compact.

4. Finance. (a) The commission shallsubmit to the Governor or designated officeror officers of each party state a budget of itsestimated expenditures for such period asmay be required by the laws of that state forpresentation to the legislature thereof.

(b) Each of the commission’s budgets ofestimated expenditures shall contain specificrecommendations of the amounts to be ap-propriated by each of the party states. Thetotal amount of appropriations requested un-der any such budget shall be apportionedamong the party states as follows: one-tenth



in equal shares; and the remainder in pro-portion to the amount of revenue collectedby each party state and its subdivisions fromincome taxes, capital stock taxes, gross re-ceipts taxes, sales and use taxes. In deter-mining such amounts, the commission shallemploy such available public sources of in-formation as, in its judgment, present themost equitable and accurate comparisonsamong the party states. Each of thecommission’s budgets of estimated expendi-tures and requests for appropriations shallindicate the sources used in obtaining infor-mation employed in applying the formulacontained in this paragraph.

(c) The commission shall not pledge thecredit of any party state. The commissionmay meet any of its obligations in whole orin part with funds available to it under par-agraph 1 (i) of this Article: provided that thecommission takes specific action settingaside such funds prior to incurring any obli-gation to be met in whole or in part in suchmanner. Except where the commission makesuse of funds available to it under paragraph1 (i), the commission shall not incur any ob-ligation prior to the allotment of funds bythe party states adequate to meet the same.

(d) The commission shall keep accurateaccounts of all receipts and disbursements.The receipts and disbursements of the com-mission shall be subject to the audit and ac-counting procedures established under itsbylaws. All receipts and disbursements offunds handled by the commission shall beaudited yearly by a certified or licensed pub-lic accountant and the report of the auditshall be included in and become part of theannual report of the commission.

(e) The accounts of the commission shallbe open at any reasonable time for inspectionby duly constituted officers of the partystates and by any persons authorized by thecommission.

(f) Nothing contained in this Article shallbe construed to prevent commission compli-ance with laws relating to audit or inspec-tion of accounts by or on behalf of anygovernment contributing to the support ofthe commission.

ARTICLE VIIUNIFORM REGULATIONS AND

FORMS

1. Whenever any two or more partystates, or subdivisions of party states, haveuniform or similar provisions of law relatingto an income tax, capital stock tax, gross re-ceipts tax, sales or use tax, the commissionmay adopt uniform regulations for any phaseof the administration of such law, including

assertion of jurisdiction to tax, or prescribinguniform tax forms. The commission may alsoact with respect to the provisions of ArticleIV of this compact.

2. Prior to the adoption of any regu-lation, the commission shall:

(a) As provided in its bylaws, hold atleast one public hearing on due notice to allaffected party states and subdivisions thereofand to all taxpayers and other persons whohave made timely request of the commissionfor advance notice of its regulation-makingproceedings.

(b) Afford all affected party states andsubdivisions and interested persons an op-portunity to submit relevant written dataand views, which shall be considered fully bythe commission.

3. The commission shall submit any reg-ulations adopted by it to the appropriate of-ficials of all party states and subdivisions towhich they might apply. Each such state andsubdivision shall consider any such regu-lation for adoption in accordance with itsown laws and procedures.

ARTICLE VIIIINTERSTATE AUDITS

1. This Article shall be in force only inthose party states that specifically providetherefor by statute.

2. Any party state or subdivision thereofdesiring to make or participate in an auditof any accounts, books, papers, records orother documents may request the commissionto perform the audit on its behalf. In re-sponding to the request, the commissionshall have access to and may examine, at anyreasonable time, such accounts, books, pa-pers, records, and other documents and anyrelevant property or stock of merchandise.The commission may enter into agreementswith party states or their subdivisions forassistance in performance of the audit. Thecommission shall make charges, to be paidby the state or local government or govern-ments for which it performs the service, forany audits performed by it in order to reim-burse itself for the actual costs incurred inmaking the audit.

3. The commission may require the at-tendance of any person within the statewhere it is conducting an audit or partthereof at a time and place fixed by it withinsuch state for the purpose of giving testi-mony with respect to any account, book, pa-per, document, other record, property orstock of merchandise being examined in con-nection with the audit. If the person is notwithin the jurisdiction, he may be requiredto attend for such purpose at any time and



place fixed by the commission within thestate of which he is a resident: provided thatsuch state has adopted this Article.

4. The commission may apply to anycourt having power to issue compulsoryprocess for orders in aid of its powers andresponsibilities pursuant to this Article andany and all such courts shall have jurisdic-tion to issue such orders. Failure of any per-son to obey any such order shall bepunishable as contempt of the issuing court.If the party or subject matter on account ofwhich the commission seeks an order iswithin the jurisdiction of the court to whichapplication is made, such application may beto a court in the state or subdivision on be-half of which the audit is being made or acourt in the state in which the object of theorder being sought is situated. The pro-visions of this paragraph apply only to courtsin a state that has adopted this Article.

5. The commission may decline to per-form any audit requested if it finds that itsavailable personnel or other resources areinsufficient for the purpose or that, in theterms requested, the audit is impracticableof satisfactory performance. If the commis-sion, on the basis of its experience, has rea-son to believe that an audit of a particulartaxpayer, either at a particular time or on aparticular schedule, would be of interest toa number of party states or their subdi-visions, it may offer to make the audit oraudits, the offer to be contingent on suffi-cient participation therein as determined bythe commission.

6. Information obtained by any auditpursuant to this Article shall be confidentialand available only for tax purposes to partystates, their subdivisions or the UnitedStates. Availability of information shall be inaccordance with the laws of the states orsubdivisions on whose account the commis-sion performs the audit, and only throughthe appropriate agencies or officers of suchstates or subdivisions. Nothing in this Arti-cle shall be construed to require any tax-payer to keep records for any period nototherwise required by law.

7. Other arrangements made or author-ized pursuant to law for cooperative audit byor on behalf of the party states or any oftheir subdivisions are not superseded or in-validated by this Article.

8. In no event shall the commission makeany charge against a taxpayer for an audit.

9. As used in this Article, “tax,” in addi-tion to the meaning ascribed to it in ArticleII, means any tax or license fee imposed inwhole or in part for revenue purposes.

ARTICLE IXARBITRATION

1. Whenever the commission finds a needfor settling disputes concerning apportion-ment and allocations by arbitration, it mayadopt a regulation placing this Article in ef-fect, notwithstanding the provisions of Arti-cle VII.

2. The commission shall select and main-tain an arbitration panel composed of officersand employees of state and local govern-ments and private persons who shall beknowledgeable and experienced in matters oftax law and administration.

3. Whenever a taxpayer who has electedto employ Article IV, or whenever the lawsof the party state or subdivision thereof aresubstantially identical with the relevant pro-visions of Article IV, the taxpayer, by writ-ten notice to the commission and to eachparty state or subdivision thereof that wouldbe affected, may secure arbitration of an ap-portionment or allocation, if he is dissatisfiedwith the final administrative determinationof the tax agency of the state or subdivisionwith respect thereto on the ground that itwould subject him to double or multiple tax-ation by two or more party states or subdi-visions thereof. Each party state andsubdivision thereof hereby consents to thearbitration as provided herein, and agrees tobe bound thereby.

4. The arbitration board shall be com-posed of one person selected by the taxpayer,one by the agency or agencies involved, andone member of the commission’s arbitrationpanel. If the agencies involved are unable toagree on the person to be selected by them,such person shall be selected by lot from thetotal membership of the arbitration panel.The two persons selected for the board in themanner provided by the foregoing provisionsof this paragraph shall jointly select thethird member of the board. If they are una-ble to agree on the selection, the third mem-ber shall be selected by lot from among thetotal membership of the arbitration panel.No member of a board selected by lot shallbe qualified to serve if he is an officer oremployee or is otherwise affiliated with anyparty to the arbitration proceeding. Resi-dence within the jurisdiction of a party tothe arbitration proceeding shall not consti-tute affiliation within the meaning of thisparagraph.

5. The board may sit in any state or sub-division party to the proceeding, in the stateof the taxpayer’s incorporation, residence ordomicile, in any state where the taxpayerdoes business, or in any place that it findsmost appropriate for gaining access to evi-dence relevant to the matter before it.



6. The board shall give due notice of thetimes and places of its hearings. The partiesshall be entitled to be heard, to present evi-dence, and to examine and cross-examinewitnesses. The board shall act by majorityvote.

7. The board shall have power to admin-ister oaths, take testimony, subpoena and re-quire the attendance of witnesses and theproduction of accounts, books, papers, re-cords, and other documents, and issue com-missions to take testimony. Subpoenas maybe signed by any member of the board. Incase of failure to obey a subpoena, and uponapplication by the board, any judge of acourt of competent jurisdiction of the statein which the board is sitting or in which theperson to whom the subpoena is directed maybe found may make an order requiring com-pliance with the subpoena, and the courtmay punish failure to obey the order as acontempt. The provisions of this paragraphapply only in states that have adopted thisArticle.

8. Unless the parties otherwise agree theexpenses and other costs of the arbitrationshall be assessed and allocated among theparties by the board in such manner as itmay determine. The commission shall fix aschedule of compensation for members of ar-bitration boards and of other allowable ex-penses and costs. No officer or employee ofa state or local government who serves as amember of a board shall be entitled to com-pensation therefor unless he is required onaccount of his service to forego the regularcompensation attaching to his public em-ployment, but any such board member shallbe entitled to expenses.

9. The board shall determine the disputedapportionment or allocation and any mattersnecessary thereto. The determinations of theboard shall be final for purposes of makingthe apportionment or allocation, but for noother purpose.

10. The board shall file with the commis-sion and with each tax agency represented inthe proceeding: the determination of theboard; the board’s written statement of itsreasons therefor; the record of the board’sproceedings; and any other documents re-quired by the arbitration rules of the com-mission to be filed.

11. The commission shall publish the de-terminations of boards together with thestatements of the reasons therefor.

12. The commission shall adopt and pub-lish rules of procedure and practice and shallfile a copy of such rules and of any amend-ment thereto with the appropriate agency orofficer in each of the party states.

13. Nothing contained herein shall pre-vent at any time a written compromise ofany matter or matters in dispute, if other-wise lawful, by the parties to the arbitrationproceeding.

ARTICLE XENTRY INTO FORCE AND

WITHDRAWAL

1. This compact shall enter into forcewhen enacted into law by any seven states.Thereafter, this compact shall become effec-tive as to any other state upon its enactmentthereof. The commission shall arrange fornotification of all party states wheneverthere is a new enactment of the compact.

2. Any party state may withdraw fromthis compact by enacting a statute repealingthe same. No withdrawal shall affect any li-ability already incurred by or chargeable toa party state prior to the time of such with-drawal.

3. No proceeding commenced before anarbitration board prior to the withdrawal ofa state and to which the withdrawing stateor any subdivision thereof is a party shall bediscontinued or terminated by the with-drawal, nor shall the board thereby lose ju-risdiction over any of the parties to theproceeding necessary to make a binding de-termination therein.

ARTICLE XIEFFECT ON OTHER LAWS AND

JURISDICTION

Nothing in this compact shall be con-strued to:

(a) Affect the power of any state or sub-division thereof to fix rates of taxation, ex-cept that a party state shall be obligated toimplement Article III 2 of this compact.

(b) Apply to any tax or fixed fee imposedfor the registration of a motor vehicle or anytax on motor fuel, other than a sales tax:provided that the definition of “tax” in Arti-cle VIII 9 may apply for the purposes of thatArticle and the commission’s powers of studyand recommendation pursuant to Article VI3 may apply.

(c) Withdraw or limit the jurisdiction ofany state or local court or administrative of-ficer or body with respect to any person,corporation or other entity or subject matter,except to the extent that such jurisdiction isexpressly conferred by or pursuant to thiscompact upon another agency or body.

(d) Supersede or limit the jurisdiction ofany court of the United States.



ARTICLE XIICONSTRUCTION AND SEVERABILITY

This compact shall be liberally construedso as to effectuate the purposes thereof. Theprovisions of this compact shall be severableand if any phrase, clause, sentence or pro-vision of this compact is declared to be con-trary to the constitution of any state or ofthe United States or the applicability thereofto any government, agency, person or cir-cumstance is held invalid, the validity of theremainder of this compact and the applica-bility thereof to any government, agency,person or circumstance shall not be affectedthereby. If this compact shall be held con-trary to the constitution of any state partic-ipating therein, the compact shall remain infull force and effect as to the remainingparty states and in full force and effect as tothe state affected as to all severable matters.__________________________________________

[1967 c.242 §1; 1989 c.625 §75]

305.660 Director of department torepresent state; alternate. The Director ofthe Department of Revenue shall constitutethe member of the Multistate Tax Commis-sion who shall represent Oregon on suchmultistate commission. If, at any time andfor any reason, the director is unable tocarry out any duty or activity required of amember of the Multistate Tax Commission,the director shall be represented by an al-ternate appointed by the director. The direc-tor shall at all times maintain on file withthe Multistate Tax Commission written no-tification of the designation and identity ofthe alternate. [1967 c.242 §3; 1969 c.520 §28]

305.665 Appointment of consultantsfrom political subdivisions imposing taxeshaving multistate impact. The Governorof Oregon shall appoint one person from theCity of Portland, and from time to time oneperson from any other municipality or poli-tical subdivision imposing any tax defined inArticle II of the Multistate Tax Compact, toconsult regularly with the Director of theDepartment of Revenue of Oregon, or the al-ternate of the director, in accordance withArticle VI, section 1 (b) of the compact. [1967c.242 §4]

305.670 [1967 c.242 §5; repealed by 1979 c.691 §7]

305.675 Application of compact pro-visions relating to interstate audits. Arti-cle VIII of the Multistate Tax Compactrelating to interaudits shall be in force inand with respect to this state. [1967 c.242 §6]

305.676 Mediation and arbitration lawsnot applicable to Multistate Tax Com-mission processes. Any alternative disputeresolution process undertaken under the au-

thority of the Multistate Tax Commissionneed not comply with and is not subject toORS chapter 36. [1999 c.224 §6]

305.685 Multistate Tax CommissionRevolving Account. (1) There is created inthe General Fund of the State Treasury theMultistate Tax Commission Revolving Ac-count. Notwithstanding any other law, allmoneys received by the Department of Re-venue as a result of audits performed by theMultistate Tax Commission shall be depos-ited in the Multistate Tax Commission Re-volving Account and are continuouslyappropriated to the Department of Revenuefor expenses of the Multistate Tax Commis-sion. As of June 30 of each year, all moneysin excess of $150,000 in this account shall beforwarded to the State Treasurer for depositas miscellaneous revenues of the GeneralFund of the State of Oregon.

(2) The Department of Revenue maytransfer $5,000 from the funds appropriatedin section 1, chapter 187, Oregon Laws 1975,to the Multistate Tax Commission RevolvingAccount. Such funds are continuously appro-priated for reimbursement to the MultistateTax Commission for out-of-state corporationaudits made for the State of Oregon. [1975c.187 §4; 1993 c.726 §5; 2001 c.28 §1; 2005 c.94 §24]

CHARITABLE CHECKOFF PROGRAM305.690 Definitions for ORS 305.690 to

305.753. As used in ORS 305.690 to 305.753,unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) “Biennial years” means the two in-come tax years of individual taxpayers thatbegin in the two calendar years immediatelyfollowing the calendar year in which a listis certified under ORS 305.715.

(2) “Commission” means the OregonCharitable Checkoff Commission.

(3) “Department” means the Departmentof Revenue.

(4) “Eligibility roster” means a list, pre-pared under ORS 305.715 and maintained bythe commission in chronological order basedon the date of form listing or date of eligi-bility determination, whichever is later, ofcharitable and governmental entities seekinginclusion on the Oregon individual incometax return forms.

(5) “Form listed” or “form listing” meansbeing listed on the Oregon individual incometax return form.

(6) “Instruction listing” means beinglisted on the Department of Revenue in-structions for tax return checkoff contrib-ution.

(7) “Internal Revenue Code” means thefederal Internal Revenue Code as amendedand in effect on December 31, 2010. [1989 c.987



§2; 1993 c.726 §6; 1995 c.556 §32; 1997 c.839 §43; 1999 c.90§30; 2001 c.660 §25; 2003 c.77 §3; 2005 c.832 §15; 2007 c.614§3; 2007 c.822 §1; 2008 c.45 §3; 2009 c.5 §13; 2009 c.909§13; 2010 c.82 §13; 2011 c.7 §13]

305.695 Oregon Charitable CheckoffCommission; qualifications; term; com-pensation and expenses. (1) There is cre-ated the Oregon Charitable CheckoffCommission, consisting of five voting mem-bers appointed by the Governor and as non-voting members, one Representativeappointed by the Speaker of the House ofRepresentatives and one Senator appointedby the President of the Senate. One appoint-ment of a voting member shall be based onrecommendation of the Speaker of the Houseof Representatives and one appointment shallbe made based on recommendation of thePresident of the Senate.

(2) The term of office of each votingmember is four years, but a member servesat the pleasure of the Governor. The term ofoffice of a nonvoting member is two years.Before the expiration of the term of a votingmember, the Governor shall appoint a suc-cessor whose term begins on January 1 nextfollowing. A member is eligible for reap-pointment. If there is a vacancy in the votingmembership for any cause, the Governorshall make an appointment to become imme-diately effective for the unexpired term. TheSpeaker and President, respectively, shallmake any appointment to fill a vacancy inthe nonvoting membership.

(3) Individuals appointed members of thecommission shall be citizens of Oregon wellqualified by experience to make policy andrecommendations in areas of concern to thecommission and otherwise to perform theduties of the office. Members of the commis-sion shall be diversified in their charitableinterests. At the time of appointment, thevoting members shall not have any direct orindirect financial interest in any checkoffproposal currently in law or under consider-ation by the commission. If a conflict arisesafter a member’s appointment, the membershall declare the conflict and abstain fromdeliberations and voting on the proposal.

(4) A voting member of the commissionis entitled to compensation and expenses asprovided in ORS 292.495. The nonvoting leg-islative members shall be entitled to com-pensation and expenses under ORS 171.072.[1989 c.987 §3]

305.700 Officers; meetings; quorum;director as nonvoting member. (1) TheOregon Charitable Checkoff Commissionshall select from its members a chairperson,a vice chairperson and other officers as nec-essary. The chairperson or vice chairpersonshall serve until the expiration of the termof the chairperson or vice chairperson as amember of the commission, or until the

chairperson or vice chairperson resigns or isremoved in accordance with subsection (5)of this section.

(2) The commission shall meet at leastonce in every even-numbered calendar yearat a place, day and hour determined by thecommission. The commission also may meetat other times and places specified by thecall of the chairperson or of a majority of themembers of the commission. Regular andspecial meetings of the commission may beconvened upon notice in the manner requiredby ORS 192.640.

(3) A majority of the members of thecommission constitute a quorum for thetransaction of business.

(4) In addition to the seven members ofthe commission, the Director of the Depart-ment of Revenue shall be a nonvoting, exofficio member. The director shall not be en-titled to compensation and expenses as pro-vided under ORS 292.495.

(5) If the chairperson or vice chairpersonresigns or is removed from office, a newchairperson or vice chairperson shall beelected by the commission. Until a newchairperson is elected, the vice chairpersonshall act as chairperson.

(6) The commission by a three-fifths voteof the members may declare the office ofchairperson or vice chairperson vacant if thechairperson or vice chairperson is unavail-able or otherwise unable to perform the du-ties of the office satisfactorily. [1989 c.987 §§5,7]

305.705 Duties of chairperson. (1) Thechairperson shall be the chief executive offi-cer of the Oregon Charitable Checkoff Com-mission. The chairperson shall be responsiblefor the expenditure of all commission fundsand shall sign all vouchers for obligationsincurred or for expenditures authorized bythe commission.

(2) The chairperson, on behalf of thecommission, shall execute all agreements,contracts or other documents entered into orapproved by the commission.

(3) Subject to any applicable provisionsof the State Personnel Relations Law and theapproval of the commission, the chairpersonmay employ or remove executive, technicaland expert assistants and other employees asneeded and fix their compensation. However,executive, technical and expert assistantsshall be in the unclassified service for pur-poses of the State Personnel Relations Law.

(4) The vice chairperson shall performthe duties assigned by the chairperson and,in accordance with the rules of the commis-sion, shall perform the duties and have thepowers of the chairperson when the chair-person is temporarily unable to perform theduties of the chairperson. [1989 c.987 §6]



305.710 Notice of availability of spacein tax return for checkoffs; determi-nation of entities eligible for checkoff. (1)The Department of Revenue shall notify theOregon Charitable Checkoff Commission ofthe number of lines available for the materialdescribed in ORS 305.745 (2) without addinga page to the various individual tax forms forfull-year residents, nonresidents and part-year residents. The department shall providelines on the form to permit legible form list-ing of at least 12 entities, if possible, but mayprovide fewer lines if there is insufficientspace on the form. The commission shalllimit the number of entities to be listed onthe form to conform to the department’s no-tice unless it determines that the number ofeligible entities justifies adding a page to theform.

(2) Any new entity added to the list must,in the judgment of the commission, have ahigh probability of meeting the requirementin ORS 305.720 (5). [1989 c.987 §7a; 2007 c.822 §2]

305.715 Determination of eligibility;certification of entities to be listed on taxreturn. (1)(a) The Oregon CharitableCheckoff Commission shall determine if acharitable or governmental entity is qualifiedunder ORS 305.720, for the biennial years, forlisting on the Oregon individual income taxreturn to receive contributions by means ofcheckoff, as described under and subject toORS 305.710 and 305.745.

(b) Upon determination, pursuant to aninitial application, that an entity qualifies forinclusion on the Oregon individual incometax return forms to receive contributions bymeans of checkoff, the commission, subjectto ORS 305.723, shall cause the name of theentity to be included on the eligibility rosterprepared under this section.

(c) If the commission determines that theentity is not qualified to be included on theeligibility roster, the commission shall givenotice in the manner provided in ORS183.415, and ORS 305.740 (3) shall apply.

(2) The commission shall certify in eacheven-numbered calendar year to the Depart-ment of Revenue a list of at least 12 chari-table and governmental entities to be listed,if possible, on the Oregon individual incometax return to receive contributions by meansof checkoff for the biennial years indicatedin the certification, as described in and sub-ject to ORS 305.710 and 305.745. [1989 c.987 §8;2007 c.822 §3]

305.720 Qualification for entity forcontributions by checkoff. Subject to ORS305.710, 305.723 and 305.745, an entity quali-fies for listing on the eligibility roster forform listing to receive contributions bymeans of checkoff if:

(1) The entity supports private charitablecauses or engages in public activities thatare consistent with policies and programs ofthe state and:

(a) Checkoff resources are used to aug-ment existing programs or provide new fund-ing to related activities of proven value;

(b) Checkoff funds are not to be used tomeet the administrative expenses of the en-tity;

(c) Programs funded by checkoff re-sources result in substantial and direct ben-efits to the human and natural resources ofthe state that the Oregon CharitableCheckoff Commission determines are un-likely to occur under existing public andprivate programs; and

(d) After checkoff resources are receivedby the entity, the entity shows a pattern overseveral years of increasing its total revenuesfrom other than checkoff sources or reachesthe level where no more than 50 percent ofits revenues are from checkoff sources.

(2) The entity is qualified to receive con-tributions that are tax deductible under thefollowing:

(a) Section 170 of the Internal RevenueCode (relating to contributions and gifts tocharitable and governmental entities).

(b) Section 501(k) of the Internal RevenueCode (relating to contributions to certain or-ganizations providing child care).

(c) Section 7871 of the Internal RevenueCode (relating to contributions to Indiantribal governments).

(d) Any other federal law allowing a de-duction from federal individual income taxfor charitable contributions to an entityclassified by rule of the Department of Re-venue as being an entity belonging to thegeneral class described in paragraphs (a) to(c) of this subsection.

(3) The entity makes application for list-ing within the time and in the manner pre-scribed by ORS 305.725.

(4) The entity files a financial report, andother information, with the commission asdescribed under ORS 305.730.

(5) The entity received $25,000 or more incheckoff contributions in at least one of thetwo tax years immediately preceding the taxyear for which it is to be listed on the Ore-gon income tax return. This subsection doesnot apply if the entity has not been includedon the Oregon personal income tax returnfor each of the two tax years immediatelypreceding the tax year for which determi-nation for purposes of this subsection is be-ing made. [1989 c.987 §9; 2007 c.822 §5; 2009 c.33 §8]



305.723 Eligibility roster. (1) In theevent that one or more entities are certifiedand placed on the eligibility roster underORS 305.715 but not all entities can be in-cluded on the Oregon individual income taxreturn forms because of space limitations,the Oregon Charitable Checkoff Commissionshall, prior to determining the entities to belisted on the eligibility roster for the ensuingyear, identify those entities that have beenincluded on the tax forms for two or moreyears.

(2) To the extent there are entities on theeligibility roster that have not been formlisted, the commission shall direct the De-partment of Revenue to remove from the taxforms for the next year those entities thathave been included on the tax forms for twoor more years.

(3)(a) The identified entities shall be re-moved from inclusion on the tax forms basedon the number of calendar years for whichthe entities have been included on the forms,with entities that have been included on theforms for the greatest number of years beingremoved first.

(b) If identified entities have been in-cluded on the tax forms for an equal numberof years and space limitations require theremoval of some, but not all, of the entitiesidentified in subsection (1) of this section, inorder to permit inclusion of entities from theeligibility roster on the tax forms for thenext year, the commission shall direct thedepartment to remove the entity or entitiesgarnering the smallest average amount ofdonations for the years that the entity orentities appeared on the tax forms.

(4) If an entity removed from form listingunder subsection (3) of this section continuesto meet the eligibility requirements underORS 305.720, an entity removed from thecharitable checkoff portion of the tax formsshall be placed at the end of the eligibilityroster for form listing in succeeding taxyears and shall be considered to be an entitythat has not been form listed for purposes ofsubsection (2) of this section. [2007 c.822 §4]

305.725 Application of entity. (1) Eachentity desiring to receive contributions bymeans of checkoff on the Oregon individualincome tax return shall make initial applica-tion to the Oregon Charitable CheckoffCommission not later than July 1 of eacheven-numbered calendar year. The applica-tion shall contain or be accompanied by:

(a) The name of the entity.(b) The address of the principal place of

business of the entity and the name of theperson, officer or employee to whom themoneys contributed by means of checkoff areto be remitted pursuant to ORS 305.747.

(c) The names and personal addresses ofthe principals of the entity.

(d) The name and personal address of aperson who is a principal in the solicitationactivities for the entity.

(e) Evidence satisfactory to the commis-sion that contributions to the entity qualifyfor tax deduction under section 170 of theInternal Revenue Code or other law listedunder ORS 305.720 (2) or, in the case of anapplication for instruction listing, ORS305.727. This evidence may, but need not,take the form of an Internal Revenue Serviceruling, a listing of the entity on the listpublished by the Internal Revenue Servicelisting organizations qualified to receive taxdeductible contributions or an answer to aninquiry as to the status of the entity ad-dressed to the Commissioner of Internal Re-venue.

(f) If applicable, evidence that ORS128.610 to 128.750 has been complied with.

(g) A financial report, and other infor-mation, as described in ORS 305.730.

(2) If, at any time, there is a change ofperson, officer or employee to whom contrib-utions received by means of checkoff are tobe remitted under ORS 305.747, the govern-ing body of the entity shall give notice to theDepartment of Revenue. The notice shallcontain the name of the entity and the nameof the new person, officer or employee towhom contributions shall be remitted. [1989c.987 §10; 1991 c.532 §24; 1999 c.1032 §3]

305.727 Instruction listing; qualifica-tions. (1) In addition to the opportunity tobe listed on the Oregon individual tax returnforms under ORS 305.725, an entity on theeligibility roster may apply to the commis-sion for listing in the Department of Revenueinstructions for tax return checkoff contrib-ution as provided in this section.

(2) In order to qualify for instructionlisting, the entity must apply to the commis-sion in the manner in which an entity ap-plies for listing on the individual tax formsunder ORS 305.725.

(3) In order to qualify for instructionlisting, the entity must meet the qualifica-tions described in ORS 305.720, collect 10,000or more signatures from electors of this stateattesting that the electors support the entityqualifying for instruction listing and be:

(a) The Oregon Veterans’ Home, theNongame Wildlife Fund, the Alzheimer’sDisease Research Fund, the Oregon MilitaryEmergency Financial Assistance Fund or thesubaccount described in ORS 316.493 forcontributions dedicated to the prevention ofchild abuse and neglect;



(b) A nonprofit organization described insection 501(c)(3) of the Internal RevenueCode with a gross income of at least $1million for the year prior to application; or

(c) The central office for a group of affil-iated nonprofit organizations with a collec-tive gross income of at least $1 million in theyear prior to the year of application.

(4) The commission shall review applica-tions and approve those that meet the quali-fications of ORS 305.720 and this section. Anentity that is approved by the commissionshall thereafter qualify for instruction listingfor six years and thereafter must reapplyunder this section for continued listing inadditional six-year periods, except that anentity that reapplies does not need to collect10,000 or more signatures.

(5) The commission shall certify thoseentities that are on the eligibility roster andthat the commission has approved in the in-terim since the last preceding certification tothe Department of Revenue for listing in theinstructions to the forms described in ORS305.710.

(6) The department shall include in theinstructions to the forms described in ORS305.710 a list of entities that have been cer-tified by the commission under this sectionas of the date the instructions for the formsmust be prepared.

(7) The department shall cause two linesto be included on the Oregon individual taxreturn forms following the listing of the en-tities described in ORS 305.715 (2). Theselines may be used by a taxpayer to designateone or two entities that have qualified forinstruction listing under this section as therecipient of a checkoff contribution by thetaxpayer.

(8) Amounts contributed by charitablecheckoff to an instruction-listed entity shallbe subject to and distributed as provided inORS 305.747. [1999 c.1032 §2; 2001 c.677 §1; 2007 c.822§§6,7]

Note: Section 8, chapter 822, Oregon Laws 2007,provides:

Sec. 8. Notwithstanding ORS 305.727, an entitythat qualified for instruction listing before the tax yearbeginning on January 1, 2007, is not required to collectsignatures in order to qualify for instruction listing forany tax year beginning on or after January 1, 2007.[2007 c.822 §8]

305.730 Financial report of entity. (1)Each entity desiring to be listed on the Ore-gon individual income tax return in order toreceive contributions by means of checkofffor the biennial years shall file a financialreport with the Oregon Charitable CheckoffCommission no later than July 1 of eacheven-numbered year.

(2) The financial report shall contain, indetail:

(a) The amount of funds received fromcontributions made by means of checkoff.

(b) The disposition of the funds receivedfrom contributions made by means ofcheckoff.

(3) If required by the commission by rule,the entity shall also file with the commissionits budget, financial statements or other doc-uments or information needed by the com-mission to determine the use of fundsreceived through checkoff.

(4) All information required by this sec-tion shall be as of the close of each fiscalyear of the two fiscal years of the entity thatended during the 12-month period endingprior to July 1 of the even-numbered calen-dar year. [1989 c.987 §11; 2007 c.822 §9]

305.735 Effect of qualification; noticeif entity not qualified. (1) Upon determi-nation, pursuant to initial application, thatan entity qualifies for listing on the Oregonindividual income tax return to receive con-tributions by means of checkoff, the OregonCharitable Checkoff Commission, subject toORS 305.710, shall cause the name of theentity to be included on the list.

(2) If the commission determines that theentity is not qualified to be listed, the com-mission shall give notice in the manner pro-vided under ORS 183.415, as applicable, andORS 305.740 (3) shall apply. [1989 c.987 §12]

305.740 Standards for continuing eligi-bility. (1) Prior to the end of each even-numbered calendar year, and subject tosubsection (2) of this section, the OregonCharitable Checkoff Commission shall exam-ine the list of entities included on the Ore-gon personal income tax return for the taxyear beginning in the calendar year imme-diately preceding and shall determine if eachentity listed is qualified under ORS 305.710and 305.720 to be listed on the return to re-ceive contributions by means of checkoff forthe ensuing biennial years.

(2)(a) The Department of Revenue shalldetermine for each tax year if each entitylisted for checkoff on the return for the pre-ceding tax year meets the criteria under ORS305.720 (5) and shall notify the commission,if and when appropriate. In determining theamount received in contributions fromcheckoffs for an entity for a particular taxyear:

(A) For purposes of meeting the $25,000minimum contribution, the amount receivedin contributions from checkoffs in theamount shown in the department’s financialstatement for the fiscal year shall becounted.



(B) The amount of receipts shall not bereduced by the amount of administrative ex-pense referred to in ORS 305.747.

(b) The determination of the departmentmade under paragraph (a) of this subsectionis final and may not be appealed. Notwith-standing subsection (1) of this section, anentity that has not met the criteria of ORS305.720 (5) shall not be listed on the returnfor checkoff.

(3)(a) If the commission, for any reasonother than that contributions by means ofcheckoff did not reach the amount requiredunder ORS 305.720 (5), determines that anentity included on the list certified underORS 305.715 (2) for the prior biennial yearsis not qualified to be included, or that anentity making application is not qualified tobe included, or is not included because ofdeterminations under ORS 305.710, on thelist for the ensuing biennial years, the com-mission shall so order.

(b) The commission shall serve upon theentity, either by personal service or by cer-tified mail, return receipt requested, the or-der issued under paragraph (a) of thissubsection. The order shall comply with theapplicable notice requirements of ORS183.415.

(c) The entity or person or persons towhom the order is directed shall have 20days from the date of personal service ormailing of the notice in which to make writ-ten application to the commission for a con-tested case hearing to be held in accordancewith ORS 183.415 to 183.500 before the com-mission or the designee of the commission.In any hearing before the designee of thecommission, the designee is authorized to is-sue the final order in the matter.

(d) Upon failure to request a contestedcase hearing within the time specified, theorder shall become final.

(e) Appeal may be taken from a final or-der as specified under ORS 183.480 to183.497.

(f) A final order issued by the commis-sion, the designee of the commission, theCourt of Appeals or the Oregon SupremeCourt determining that an entity be includedon the list certified under ORS 305.715 (2)may require only that the entity be includedon the list next certified after the effectivedate of the final order. [1989 c.987 §13; 2001 c.114§6; 2007 c.822 §10]

305.745 Inclusion of eligible entities ontax return. (1) Upon receipt of the list cer-tified by the Oregon Charitable CheckoffCommission under ORS 305.715 (2), the De-partment of Revenue shall cause the nameof each entity so listed to be included on the

Oregon individual income tax return formsprepared for the biennial years as certified.

(2) Individual taxpayers who file an Ore-gon income tax return and who will receivea tax refund from the department may desig-nate that a contribution be made to one ormore entities listed. Designation shall bemade in a space that the department shallcause to be printed on the return form.

(3) Overpayments of tax that are insuffi-cient, due to ORS 293.250 or otherwise, tosatisfy the total amount of checkoffs desig-nated on a tax return under subsection (2)of this section and under statute other thanORS 305.690 to 305.753 shall be allocatedamong the entities designated on a pro ratabasis. [1989 c.987 §14; 2007 c.822 §11]

305.747 Administrative expenses; cred-iting contributions to entities; rules. (1)Amounts equal to the amounts checked offunder ORS 305.745 shall be remitted by theDepartment of Revenue to the State Treas-urer who shall deposit the amounts in a sus-pense account established under ORS293.445.

(2)(a) Of the amounts remitted and de-posited under subsection (1) of this section,a portion is continuously appropriated foruse in reimbursing the General Fund forcosts paid or incurred by the Oregon Chari-table Checkoff Commission in administeringthe checkoff programs established under ORS305.690 to 305.753. No more than one percentof the moneys generated by the checkoffprograms per fiscal year ending June 30,1990, or per any fiscal year thereafter, is ap-propriated under this paragraph.

(b) Of the amounts remitted and depos-ited under subsection (1) of this section, aportion is continuously appropriated for usein reimbursing the General Fund for costspaid or incurred by the department in ad-ministering the checkoff program establishedunder ORS 305.690 to 305.753. The depart-ment shall adopt by rule a formula or othermethod of determining the cost of adminis-tering each checkoff program. Each programshall be charged the cost of administrationnot to exceed 10 percent of the amount re-ceived in checkoff contributions.

(c) Moneys appropriated under this sub-section shall be transferred to the GeneralFund on a quarterly basis.

(3) The records of the department shallreflect the amount that the department hascredited to each entity less administrativeexpenses. Subject to ORS 305.745 (3), theamount credited to each entity shall be equalto the amount checked off for that entityunder ORS 305.745 less administrative ex-penses. The net amount of moneys creditedto an entity shall be transferred by the de-



partment to the entity, as specified by law,on a periodic basis, or is continuously ap-propriated to the department for payment tothe entity and the department shall pay andremit the net amount credited to the entity,without interest, to the entity on a periodicbasis. The department shall adopt rules gov-erning the transferring or remitting ofcheckoff moneys to the entities for which theamounts were checked off. The rules shallspecify the time, no less often than quarterly,that the moneys are to be transferred orremitted to the entities by the department.[1989 c.987 §15; 1995 c.79 §114; 2007 c.822 §12]

305.749 [Formerly 305.835; 1993 c.797 §29; 1995 c.79§116; 2005 c.94 §25; 2005 c.836 §13; 2007 c.822 §13; repealedby 2007 c.822 §24]

305.751 Rules. The Department of Re-venue shall adopt such rules as are neces-sary for the operation of the OregonCharitable Checkoff Commission and the ad-ministration of ORS 305.690 to 305.753. Thecommission may recommend that the depart-ment adopt rules under this section. [1993 c.726§8]

305.753 State Treasurer may solicitdonations to eligible entities; departmentrules. (1) The State Treasurer may solicitand accept from private and public sourcesand cause to be credited and paid to any en-tity gifts, grants and other donations, inmoney or otherwise, if the entity is currentlylisted or entitled to be listed on the Oregontax return for checkoff.

(2) In accordance with ORS chapter 183,the Department of Revenue may adopt rulesto carry out the purposes of ORS 305.690 to305.753. [1989 c.987 §16; 1993 c.209 §21; 1993 c.797 §26;1995 c.54 §19; 1995 c.79 §117; 1999 c.1084 §39; 2005 c.94§26; 2005 c.836 §12; 2007 c.822 §§14,15]

CHECKOFF FOR CONTRIBUTION TO POLITICAL PARTY

305.754 Designation of contribution topolitical party on income tax return. (1)A resident individual taxpayer who files afull-year Oregon individual income tax returnmay designate that a contribution be madeto the Oregon Political Party Fund for pay-ment to the major or minor political partydesignated. The resident individual taxpayershall make the designation by entering acode denoting the party and marking the boxprovided on the return form pursuant tosubsection (2) of this section. The amountdesignated shall be subtracted from any re-fund due on the return.

(2)(a) The Department of Revenue shallprovide, on the face of the full-year Oregonindividual income tax return form, a placefor resident individual taxpayers to make thedesignation of a political party provided bythis section. The department is not required

to add a line to a particular form if this ad-dition would require addition of a page to thereturn form. All major political parties, asdescribed in ORS 248.006, and all minor poli-tical parties, as described in ORS 248.008,shall be listed, with identifying codes, in theinstructions to the individual income tax re-turn.

(b) The area on the return form for mak-ing the designation shall provide for acheckoff box of $3. The instructions shalladequately explain that any amount desig-nated shall be paid to the political party ofthe taxpayer’s choice, that the amount des-ignated will decrease the refund of the tax-payer by the designated amount, and that thedesignation is entirely voluntary.

(3) If a taxpayer filing a full-year Oregonindividual income tax return designates morethan one political party to receive the con-tribution, the designation is void and nocontribution is made.

(4) If a joint return is filed and only onepolitical party is designated, that politicalparty shall receive a contribution in the totalamount designated. If two political partiesare designated on a joint return, each poli-tical party shall receive a contribution in theamount designated by each joint filer. Ifmore than two parties are designated, thedesignations are void and no contribution ismade.

(5) If an organization that is not a majoror minor political party is designated underthis section, the designation is void and nocontribution is made.

(6) If a designation is void under subsec-tion (3), (4) or (5) of this section, the depart-ment shall adjust the return to reflect theamount designated for contribution underthis section.

(7) If a taxpayer designates both a con-tribution to a political party under this sec-tion and a contribution pursuant to ORS305.745, and the refund due the taxpayer isinsufficient to satisfy the designated contrib-ution under ORS 305.745, the designationunder this section is void and no contrib-ution to a political party is made. [2009 c.911§1]

Note: 305.754 to 305.759 were enacted into law bythe Legislative Assembly but were not added to or madea part of ORS chapter 305 or any series therein by leg-islative action. See Preface to Oregon Revised Statutesfor further explanation.

305.755 [Formerly 306.260; repealed by 1969 c.166 §8and 1969 c.520 §49]

305.756 Oregon Political Party Fund.The Oregon Political Party Fund is estab-lished in the General Fund. The Oregon Pol-itical Party Fund shall consist of all moneystransferred to the fund under this section.Notwithstanding ORS 316.502, the Director



of the Department of Revenue shall transferto the fund an amount equal to the totalamount designated by individual income tax-payers to be paid to the fund under ORS305.754. [2009 c.911 §2]


305.757 Payments to treasurers ofpolitical parties. At least once each calen-dar quarter, moneys in the Oregon PoliticalParty Fund established in ORS 305.756 shallbe paid to the treasurers of the political par-ties designated by taxpayers under ORS305.754. [2009 c.911 §3]


305.758 Payment to political partyconsidered contribution for purposes ofcampaign finance regulation. (1) A pay-ment to a political party under ORS 305.757is considered a contribution to that politicalparty for the purposes of ORS chapter 260.

(2) Any moneys received by the treasurerof a political party under ORS 305.757 forwhich a statement must be filed under ORSchapter 260 shall be reported as receivedfrom the Oregon Political Party Fund. Thenames of individual taxpayers are not re-quired to be disclosed for purposes of ORSchapter 260. [2009 c.911 §4; 2010 c.9 §11]


305.759 Contribution to political partyon income tax return not to be claimedas tax credit. A contribution made underORS 305.754 may not be claimed as a creditby the taxpayer under ORS 316.102. [2009 c.911§5]


REFUNDS305.760 Paying over funds to State

Treasurer and writing checks for re-funds. In lieu of the procedure provided incertain revenue laws for the retaining of aworking balance by the Department of Re-venue from which refunds may be made, theDepartment of Revenue may, in accordancewith the requirement of the Secretary ofState, pay over all funds received under anyof the revenue laws to the State Treasurerand write refund checks upon the StateTreasurer for refunds authorized by law.[Formerly 306.270]

305.762 Election for direct deposit ofpersonal income tax refund. (1) At theelection of the taxpayer, a refund of personalincome tax shall be made by direct depositinto an account designated by the taxpayerat a bank or other financial institution.

(2) The election shall be made on a formprescribed by the Department of Revenueand filed with the taxpayer’s tax return forthe tax year or at such other time and man-

ner as the department may prescribe by rule.[2001 c.111 §2]

305.765 Refund of taxes adjudged in-valid. In a proceeding involving the validityof any law whereby taxes assessed or im-posed have been collected and received bythe state, acting through any department oragency thereof, and paid into the StateTreasury, if the court of last resort holds thelaw or any part thereof invalid, and the timelimit for any further proceeding to sustainthe validity of the law, or the part thereofaffected, has expired, and if there is no otherstatute authorizing refund thereof, all taxescollected and paid under the law or partthereof invalidated, in or after the year inwhich the action attacking the validity of thesame was instituted, shall be refunded andrepaid in the manner provided in ORS305.770 to 305.785. [Formerly 306.280; 2003 c.46 §6]

305.770 Report of taxpayers paying in-valid tax; issuance and payment of war-rants. The department or agency of the statecharged with the duty of administering thelaw so invalidated, either wholly or in part,shall prepare a detailed report, listing byname, address and amount of payment eachtaxpayer who paid an invalid tax under thelaw. The Oregon Department of Administra-tive Services shall issue a warrant in favorof each taxpayer listed therein, in theamount so reported, and shall forward thewarrant to the taxpayer at the addressshown in the report. The State Treasurershall pay the warrants from the GeneralFund in the usual manner when and as pre-sented. Warrants refunding invalid taxesshall be payable to the taxpayers named inthe report required by this section or to theirheirs, administrators, executors or assigns.[Formerly 306.290; 1975 c.614 §8]

305.775 Interest on amount of refundin certain cases. If an appeal from or peti-tion for certiorari to review a decision of theSupreme Court of Oregon, holding a tax lawor any part thereof invalid, is taken to theSupreme Court of the United States and thatcourt does not reverse or modify the decisionof the Supreme Court of Oregon, the refundof the invalid taxes shall include interest onthe amount paid at the rate of six percentfrom the date of the last decision of the Su-preme Court of Oregon in the matter to thedate of filing with the Secretary of State ofthe report and list of taxpayers entitled tothe refunds as required by ORS 305.770.[Formerly 306.300]

305.780 Taxes due prior to year inwhich suit brought. Nothing contained inORS 305.770 to 305.785 authorizes the re-funding of any tax collected and paid underan invalidated tax law, or invalidated partthereof, where the tax as provided in such



law became due and payable in any yearprior to the year in which the suit or actionseeking the invalidation of the law or partthereof was instituted. [Formerly 306.310]

305.785 Appropriation. There hereby isappropriated out of the moneys in the Gen-eral Fund in the State Treasury, not other-wise appropriated, the amounts necessary tocarry out ORS 305.770 to 305.785, not ex-ceeding the amounts paid to and received bythe State of Oregon, together with interestthereon as provided in ORS 305.775, underand by virtue of the law or laws, or partsthereof, declared to be invalid. [Formerly306.320]

305.790 Manner of payment of certaincosts and expenses. Payment of any attor-ney fees or reasonable expenses under ORS305.447 or 305.490 shall be made by the De-partment of Revenue in the manner providedby law for the payment of income tax re-funds. [1971 c.265 §5]

305.792 Surplus refund donations toeducation. (1) The Department of Revenueshall provide a means by which personal in-come and corporate income or excise tax re-turn filers may indicate that a surplus refundcredit to which the taxpayer may otherwisebe entitled to under ORS 291.349 shall in-stead be used for funding education.

(2)(a) A personal income or corporate ex-cise or income taxpayer may elect not toclaim a surplus refund credit that the tax-payer would otherwise be entitled to pursu-ant to ORS 291.349, in order to achieve acorresponding transfer of such moneys fromthe General Fund to the State School Fundfor the support of public elementary andsecondary school education. The taxpayermay make the election in the form and man-ner prescribed by the department by rule.

(b) A taxpayer that indicates that thecredit will not be claimed but that neverthe-less claims the credit in determining thetaxpayer’s tax liability shall be considered tonot have made the election under this sub-section.

(c) The election not to claim a credit un-der this subsection may not be revoked byfiling an amended return.

(3) Following the determination to creditpersonal income or corporate income and ex-cise taxes pursuant to ORS 291.349, the de-partment shall annually certify to the StateTreasurer the total amount of allowablecredits that have not been claimed pursuantto an election made under subsection (2) ofthis section. The certification shall be madeon or before December 31 of each year, untilthe tax year for which the credit would oth-erwise be claimed becomes a closed tax year.[1999 c.960 §2; 2011 c.299 §2]


Sec. 4. For purposes of determining the amount tobe certified to the State Treasurer under ORS 305.792,surplus refund payment elections made under ORS305.792 (2009 or earlier edition) shall be considered sur-plus refund credit elections. [2011 c.299 §4]

305.794 Transfer to State School Fund.Amounts certified by the Department of Re-venue to the State Treasurer under ORS305.792 shall be transferred by the depart-ment to the State School Fund for the pur-poses for which State School Fund moneysmay be used. [1999 c.960 §3; 2001 c.114 §7; 2005 c.755§15]

305.796 Election to contribute refundto account in Oregon 529 College SavingsNetwork; rules. (1) A taxpayer may elect tocontribute all or a portion of a refund ofpersonal income tax to an account that hasbeen established under ORS 348.857 by directdeposit to the financial institution managingthe account. The amount elected to be con-tributed by the taxpayer must be at least $25and may be applied as a contribution only forthe tax year in which the refund is issued.

(2) The election shall be made on a formprescribed by the Department of Revenueand filed with the taxpayer’s tax return forthe tax year or at such other time and insuch other manner as the department mayprescribe by rule. The department shall pre-scribe by rule the maximum number of ac-counts to which a taxpayer may elect tocontribute a portion of the refund.

(3) The election to contribute all or aportion of a refund may not be changed orrevoked.

(4) The election to contribute all or aportion of a refund shall be void, and noportion of the refund may be contributed toan account that has been established underORS 348.857, if:

(a) The taxpayer’s refund is offset to payamounts owed by the taxpayer; or

(b) The taxpayer’s refund is less than thetotal of the following:

(A) The contribution elected in subsec-tion (1) of this section;

(B) Payments of tax as provided in ORS316.583 that accompany the return;

(C) All contributions to charitable andgovernmental entities designated by meansof a checkoff as provided in ORS 305.745; and

(D) All contributions to political partiesdesignated by means of a checkoff as pro-vided in ORS 305.754. [2011 c.527 §2]


Sec. 4. Section 2 of this 2011 Act [305.796] and theamendments to ORS 348.857 by section 3 of this 2011 Actapply to income tax refunds payable to taxpayers for



tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2012. [2011c.527 §4]

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS305.805 Repeal of intangibles income

tax law not to affect accrued taxes. Therepeal of the Intangibles Income Tax Act of1931, as amended, shall not affect the assess-ment and collection of any tax, penalty orinterest accruing prior to January 1, 1939,under the Intangibles Income Tax Act of1931, as amended, and such amounts shall beassessed and collected in accordance withthe provisions of that Act notwithstandingits repeal. [Formerly 306.340]

305.810 Verification of return, state-ment or document filed under tax laws.Any return, statement or other document re-quired to be filed under any provision of thelaws administered by the Department of Re-venue, in lieu of any oath otherwise re-quired, shall:

(1) Contain or be verified by a writtendeclaration that it is made under penaltiesfor false swearing; or

(2) Be verified, by such other means asthe department may prescribe by rule, thatit is made under penalties for false swearing.[Formerly 306.410; 1997 c.84 §2]

305.815 False return, statement ordocument prohibited. No person shallwillfully make and subscribe any return,statement or other document that containsor is verified by a declaration under ORS305.810 that it is made under penalties forfalse swearing if the person does not believethe return, statement or other document istrue and correct as to every material matter.[Formerly 306.420; 1997 c.84 §3]

305.820 Date when writing, remittanceor electronic filing deemed received bytax officials. (1) Any writing or remittancerequired by law to be filed with or made tothe Department of Revenue, county board ofproperty tax appeals, county assessor or taxcollector (designated in this section as the“addressee”) which is:

(a) Transmitted through the UnitedStates mail or by private express carrier,shall be deemed filed or received on the dateshown by the cancellation mark or other re-cord of transmittal, or on the date it wasmailed or deposited if proof satisfactory tothe addressee establishes that the actualmailing or deposit occurred on an earlierdate.

(b) Filed electronically pursuant to a ruleof the department adopted under ORS 306.265and 309.104 that authorizes the electronicfiling and that meets the specifications andrequirements of the rule, shall be deemed tobe filed and received on the date actually

received by the addressee, or on the datestated on the electronic acknowledgment ofreceipt that is sent by the addressee.

(c) Lost in transmission through theUnited States mail or private express carrier,shall be deemed filed and received on thedate it was mailed or deposited for transmit-tal if the sender:

(A) Can establish by competent evidencesatisfactory to the addressee that the writingor remittance was deposited on or before thedate due for filing in the United States mail,or with a private express carrier, and ad-dressed correctly to the addressee; and

(B) Files with the addressee a duplicateof the lost writing or remittance within 30days after written notification is given by theaddressee of its failure to receive such writ-ing or remittance.

(2) Whenever any writing or remittanceis required by law to be filed or made on aday which falls on a Saturday, or on a Sun-day or any legal holiday, the time specifiedshall be extended to include the next busi-ness day.

(3) As used in this section:(a) “Private express carrier” means a

carrier described under ORS 293.660.(b) “Writing or remittance” includes, but

is not limited to, “report,” “tax return,”“claim for credit,” “claim for refund,”“statement,” “notice of appeal,” “petition forreview,” “notice of election,” “documentaryproof,” a claim for exemption, a claim fordeferral, a return of property, a claim forcancellation of an assessment, an applicationfor a special assessment, and remittances.[Formerly 306.440; 1965 c.344 §27; 1993 c.44 §2; 1993 c.270§23; 1997 c.154 §11; 1997 c.541 §87]

305.822 Prohibition on state or localtax on Internet access. (1) As used in thissection:

(a) “Internet” means the combination ofcomputer and telecommunications facilities,including equipment and operating software,that comprise the interconnected worldwidenetwork of computer networks that employthe Transmission Control Protocol/InternetProtocol, or any predecessor or successorprotocols, to communicate information bywire or radio.

(b) “Internet access” means a servicethat enables users to access content, infor-mation, electronic mail or other services of-fered over the Internet. “Internet access”does not include telecommunications servicesor cable services.

(c) “Tax” means a charge imposed by agovernmental entity for the purpose of gen-erating revenues for governmental purposes.“Tax” does not include a fee imposed for a



specific privilege, service or benefit conferredto the payer of the charge.

(2) This state, and the municipal corpo-rations and political subdivisions of thisstate, may not impose, assess, collect or at-tempt to collect a tax on Internet access orthe use of Internet access if the tax was notin effect on October 6, 2001. [2001 c.741 §1]


305.823 Local government tax on tele-phone services prohibited. A county, city,district or other political subdivision in thisstate may not levy or impose a tax onamounts paid for exchange access or othertelephone services. [Formerly 307.215; 2005 c.94 §27]


305.824 [2001 c.855 §1; 2003 c.818 §1; renumbered320.300 in 2003]

305.830 Collection of fines, penaltiesand forfeitures; disbursement; cost ofcollection. (1) Amounts transferred to theDepartment of Revenue by justice and mu-nicipal courts under ORS 153.633, 153.645and 153.650 shall be deposited in a suspenseaccount established under ORS 293.445 forthe purpose of receiving criminal fines andassessments.

(2) In carrying out its duties under thissection, the Department of Revenue shallhave access to the records and dockets ofthose courts charged with the duty to trans-fer moneys to the department under ORS153.633, 153.645 and 153.650.

(3) The Department of Revenue may re-tain from the funds transferred under ORS153.633, 153.645 and 153.650 an amount notto exceed two percent annually for its actualcosts of collection and disbursement of fundsunder this section, including the cost of allexaminations, investigations and searches,and of all traveling and other expenses inconnection therewith. The department shalldeposit the net amount of moneys in thesuspense account described in subsection (1)of this section into the Criminal Fine Ac-count.

(4) All judicial, municipal and county of-ficers shall cooperate with the Departmentof Revenue with respect to the collections,searches and investigations and shall furnishthe Department of Revenue with any infor-mation contained in any of the records undertheir respective custodies relating thereto.

(5) The Department of State Police shallcooperate in the investigation of fines, pen-

alties and forfeitures. [Formerly 178.080; 1983 c.763§53; 1987 c.905 §19a; 2001 c.829 §6; 2005 c.700 §8; 2011c.597 §131]

305.835 [1987 c.771 §§3b,3c; 1989 c.987 §17; renum-bered 305.749 in 1989]

305.840 Forms furnished by countyassessors; assessor not liable when tax-payer fails to receive mailed form. When-ever any provision of law provides for a formto be supplied, furnished, or provided by acounty assessor, the requirement means thatthe county assessor shall make the formavailable to a taxpayer at the office of thecounty assessor. In such cases there is norequirement that the county assessor mailthe form to the taxpayer unless the statutespecifically provides for such mailing. Wherea taxpayer requests the assessor to mail theform to the taxpayer, or when the assessorvoluntarily mails the form, the assessor doesnot undertake the responsibility for actualreceipt by the taxpayer of the form, and noestoppel applies against the assessor if thetaxpayer does not receive the form. [1973 c.402§15]

305.845 Remedies exclusive. The reme-dies provided in this chapter shall be exclu-sive and no person, county officer or boardshall maintain any suit, action or specialproceeding in any court of this state withrespect to the assessment and taxation ofproperty or the collection of any tax thereonon any grounds, including fraud, where itshall appear that such remedies were avail-able. [1977 c.870 §12]

305.850 Use of collection agency. (1)Notwithstanding any provision to the con-trary in ORS 9.320 and 305.610, the Directorof the Department of Revenue may engagethe services of a collection agency to collectany taxes, interest and penalties resultingfrom an assessment of taxes or additionaltaxes imposed by ORS chapter 118, 310, 314,316, 317, 318, 321 or 323 or ORS 320.005 to320.150 and any other tax laws administeredby the Department of Revenue. The directormay engage the services of a collectionagency by entering into an agreement to payreasonable charges on a contingent fee orother basis.

(2) The director shall cause to be col-lected, in the same manner as provided insubsection (1) of this section, assessments,taxes and penalties due under ORS chapter656. All amounts collected pursuant to thissubsection shall be credited as provided inORS 293.250.

(3) The director may assign to the col-lection agency, for collection purposes only,any of the taxes, penalties, interest andmoneys due the state.

(4) The collection agency may bring suchaction or take such proceedings, including



but not limited to attachment and garnish-ment proceedings, as may be necessary. [1981c.705 §6; 1983 c.541 §5; 1985 c.816 §39; 1987 c.843 §19; 1997c.99 §50; 2003 c.804 §65; 2005 c.94 §28]


TAXPAYER BILL OF RIGHTS305.860 Statement of rights of taxpay-

ers; distribution. (1) The Director of theDepartment of Revenue shall prepare astatement which sets forth in simple non-technical terms:

(a) The rights of a taxpayer and the obli-gations of the Department of Revenue duringan audit;

(b) The procedures by which a taxpayermay appeal any adverse decision of the de-partment, including informal conferences andjudicial appeals;

(c) The procedures for filing and process-ing refund claims and filing of taxpayercomplaints; and

(d) The procedures which the departmentmay use in enforcing the provisions of thelaws of this state.

(2) The statement prepared in accordancewith subsection (1) of this section shall bedistributed by the Director of the Depart-ment of Revenue to all taxpayers upon re-quest. The director shall inform taxpayers oftheir rights in a brief explanatory statementincluded in all billing or collection notices,all notices of assessment or deficiency andall notices of refund adjustment or denialsent to the taxpayer. [1989 c.625 §67; 1995 c.650§112]

305.865 Taxpayer rights. Under any lawadministered by the Department of Revenue,an Oregon taxpayer shall have the rights setforth under ORS 305.880 to 305.895. [1989 c.625§69; 2003 c.46 §7]

305.870 Personnel evaluation notbased on amount of taxes collected. In itsimplementation of the personnel policies es-tablished under ORS chapter 240 or by ad-ministrative order, the Department ofRevenue shall not use the dollar amounts oftaxes collected as its primary evaluation cri-terion. [1989 c.625 §68]

305.875 Rights of taxpayer in meetingor communication with department. Inany meeting or communication with the De-partment of Revenue, including but not lim-ited to audits, conferences, interviews andany other meeting or communication be-tween the taxpayer and the department, thetaxpayer shall have the following rights, un-less waived by the taxpayer:

(1) The right to an explanation, by an of-ficer or employee of the department beforeor during the meeting of:

(a) The audit, conference or meetingprocess and the taxpayer’s rights under suchprocess; and

(b) The collection process and thetaxpayer’s rights under such process.

(2) The right to make an audio recordingof any meeting relating to the determinationor collection of any tax with the departmentrepresentative, using the taxpayer’s ownequipment, and at the taxpayer’s own ex-pense.

(3) If the department makes an audio re-cording of the meeting, the taxpayer has theright to advance notice of the recording anda copy of the recording upon request. Thetaxpayer shall reimburse the department thereasonable cost of the copy.

(4) The right to consult with an attorney,certified public accountant, enrolled agent,or an other person permitted to represent ataxpayer at any meeting before the depart-ment, if the taxpayer clearly states to thedepartment representative at any time duringany meeting, that the taxpayer wishes toconsult with the person. This subsection doesnot apply to a meeting initiated by an ad-ministrative subpoena.

(5) The right to be represented by anyonewho is permitted to represent the taxpayerbefore the department, as provided underORS 305.230 and 305.245.

(6) The right not to be present, if repre-sented, at the meeting unless subpoenaed bythe department pursuant to ORS 305.190, orother laws of this state. [1989 c.625 §70; 1995 c.650§112a]

305.880 Waiver of interest or penaltywhen department misleads taxpayer. Ataxpayer shall have the right to waiver ofinterest or penalties when an officer or em-ployee of the Department of Revenue mis-leads the taxpayer in a manner described inORS 305.145. [1989 c.625 §71]

305.885 Right of clear explanation. Ataxpayer shall have the right to a clear ex-planation, in any initial notice or other ini-tial communication of deficiency,delinquency or other writing that is commu-nicating an underpayment of tax, of the basisfor underpayment, interest and penalties.[1989 c.625 §72]

305.890 Right to enter into agreementto satisfy liability in installment pay-ments. (1) A taxpayer shall have the rightto enter into a written agreement with theDepartment of Revenue to satisfy liability forpayment of any tax in installment paymentsif the Director of the Department of Revenue



determines that the agreement will facilitatecollection of such liability.

(2) Except as otherwise provided in thissection, any agreement entered into by thedirector under this section shall remain ineffect for the term of the agreement.

(3) The director may terminate anyagreement entered into by the director underthis section if:

(a) Any information that the taxpayerprovided to the director prior to the date theagreement was entered into was inaccurateor incomplete; or

(b) The director believes that collectionof any tax to which an agreement under thissection relates is in jeopardy.

(4) If the director makes a determinationthat the financial condition of the taxpayerwith whom the director has entered into anagreement under this section has signif-icantly changed, the director may alter,modify or terminate the agreement. Actionmay be taken by the director under this sub-section only if:

(a) Notice of such determination is pro-vided to the taxpayer within 30 days prior tothe date of such action; and

(b) Such notice includes the reasons whythe director believes a significant change inthe financial condition of the taxpayer hasoccurred.

(5) The director may alter, modify or ter-minate an agreement entered into by the di-rector under this section in the case of thefailure of the taxpayer to:

(a) Pay any installment at the time suchinstallment payment is due under suchagreement;

(b) Pay any other tax liability at the timesuch liability is due; or

(c) Provide a financial condition updateas requested by the director. [1989 c.625 §73; 2003c.46 §8]

305.895 Action against property beforeissuance of warrant prohibited; prerequi-sites for warrant. (1) Except as provided inORS 314.440 or other jeopardy assessmentprocedure, the Department of Revenue shalltake no action against a taxpayer’s ortransferee’s real or personal property beforeissuing a warrant for the collection of tax oran amount payable by a transferee underORS 311.695 as provided in ORS 314.430,320.080, 321.570, 323.390, 323.610 and 324.190.

(2) At least 30 days before issuing a war-rant for collection of any tax collected by thedepartment or any amount payable underORS 311.695, the department shall send thetaxpayer or transferee a written notice anddemand for payment. The notice shall:

(a) Be sent by mail, addressed to thetaxpayer or transferee at the taxpayer’s ortransferee’s last-known address.

(b) Inform the taxpayer or transfereethat, even if the taxpayer or transferee iscompliant with an installment agreement be-tween the taxpayer or transferee and the de-partment and is in communication with thedepartment, if the tax or any portion of thetax or the amount payable under ORS311.695 is not paid within 30 days after thedate of the notice and demand for payment,a warrant may be issued and recorded asprovided in ORS 314.430, 320.080, 321.570,323.390, 323.610 and 324.190.

(c) Describe in clear nontechnical termsthe legal authority for the warrant.

(d) Contain the name, office mailing ad-dress and office telephone number of theperson issuing the warrant and advise thetaxpayer or transferee that questions orcomplaints concerning the warrant, otherthan liability for the underlying tax oramount payable under ORS 311.695, may bedirected to that person.

(e) Include alternatives available to thetaxpayer or transferee that would prevent is-suance of the warrant.

(f) Inform the taxpayer or transferee ofpossible consequences to the taxpayer ortransferee of noncompliance, and of issuanceof a warrant, including garnishment of wagesor bank accounts and seizure and sale of realor personal property. [1989 c.625 §74; 2011 c.389§7; 2011 c.723 §25]

305.900 Short title. ORS 305.860 to305.900 shall be known and cited as “TheTaxpayer Bill of Rights.” [1989 c.625 §66]

PENALTIES305.990 Criminal penalties. (1) Any per-

son who willfully presents or furnishes to theDepartment of Revenue any statement re-quired under ORS 305.160, which statementis false or fraudulent, commits perjury andupon conviction shall be punished as pro-vided by law therefor.

(2) Any person who gives testimony be-fore the Director of the Department of Re-venue which is false or fraudulent, commitsperjury and upon conviction shall be pun-ished as provided by law therefor.

(3) Any public officer who neglects orrefuses to perform any of the duties imposedon the public officer by law as to the assess-ment, levying or collection of taxes commitsa Class A misdemeanor.

(4) Violation of ORS 305.815 is a Class Amisdemeanor.

(5) Violation of ORS 305.260 is a Class Amisdemeanor. If the offender is an officer or



employee of the state the offender shall bedismissed from office and shall be incapableof holding any public office in this state fora period of five years thereafter. [Formerly306.990; 1973 c.402 §6; subsection (5) enacted as 1973 c.402§25(2); subsection (6) enacted as 1977 c.790 §5; 1985 c.105§2; 2011 c.597 §179]

305.992 Civil penalty for failure to filereturn for three consecutive years. (1) Ifany returns required to be filed under ORSchapter 118, 314, 316, 317, 318, 321 or 323 orunder a local tax administered by the De-partment of Revenue under ORS 305.620 arenot filed for three consecutive years by the

due date (including extensions) of the returnrequired for the third consecutive year, thereshall be a penalty for each year of 100 per-cent of the tax liability determined aftercredits and prepayments for each such year.

(2) The penalty imposed under this sec-tion is in addition to any other penalty im-posed by law. However, the total amount ofpenalties imposed for any taxable year underthis section, ORS 305.265 (13), 314.400,323.403 or 323.585 shall not exceed 100 per-cent of the tax liability. [1987 c.843 §3; 1997 c.99§51; 1999 c.62 §22]


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