You’ll Get a Kick Out of This.

Oregon has announced a “tax kicker” for your 2015 Oregon individual tax return. This means that Oregon will be refunding some of the tax you paid with your 2014 tax return.

Calculating your 2015 tax kicker – The refund will be calculated by multiplying your 2014 tax liability before credits (line 31 of Form 40) by 5.6%.

Before you go out and plan a shopping trip, this refund will first be applied as a refundable tax credit. Then, any excess will be refunded on your 2015 Oregon tax return. Based on the average Oregon household income, the average kicker credit will be $124.

Where was my kicker last year, you ask?

According to Oregon Legislature originally enacted in 1979, the state is only required to refund excess tax revenue when the actual General Fund exceeds the forecasted amount by at least 2%. The General Fund includes income from personal income tax, insurance tax, inheritance tax, tobacco tax and other non-tax revenue sources.  The last tax kicker was in 2007 and was a whopping cash refund of 18.6%.

Remember, you must file a 2015 tax return to receive this credit.

What about businesses?

Corporate tax revenues also exceeded the 2% threshold resulting in a kicker of $59 million. However, instead of being refunded to the businesses, the kicker is dedicated to funding K-12 schools.

If the only kicker you know is on your fantasy football team, contact Delap today to estimate the size of your credit.

Delap LLP is one of Portland’s largest local tax, audit, and consulting accounting firms, located in Lake Oswego, Oregon.