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A Return Instructions training video and links to four approved e-filing vendors are available to assist business taxpayers with filing their first returns for Oregon’s Corporate Activity Tax.
Businesses with commercial activity in excess of $1 million in 2020 must file a CAT return by April 15. Businesses with more than $1 million in taxable commercial activity will have Corporate Activity Tax to pay. Taxpayers with over $1 million in commercial activity but less than $1 million in taxable commercial activity, must file a return, but do not have to pay tax.
The tax is $250 plus 0.57 percent of commercial activity greater than $1 million after subtractions.
The CAT was created by the Oregon Legislature in 2019 to raise funding for education.
The Return Instructions video is one of 12 training videos on the CAT training materials webpage. Videos offer instructions on the commercial activity subtraction, sourcing of sales of both tangible and intangible personal property, exclusions and other topics.
The Department of Revenue honored good-faith efforts to comply with the CAT by businesses negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Penalties will not be assessed for underestimated quarterly payments or for not making a quarterly payment for the Corporate Activity Tax, if businesses did not have the financial ability to make the estimated payment.
However, payment of 2020 CAT liability is due in full April 15. Businesses can, with good cause, seek an extension to file. An extension to file is not an extension to pay tax owed. More information is available in the CAT frequently asked questions.
One-time Registration
Revenue reminds business owners that once they have more than $750,000 in commercial activity in 2021, they have 30 days to register for the Corporate Activity Tax.
Registration for CAT is a one-time requirement, and businesses that registered in 2020 do not have to register again.
The CAT topped more than 20,000 registrations in its first year. That number continues to grow as new businesses begin to reach the $750,000 threshold in 2021. Through Tuesday, March 16, 22,095 businesses had registered for the CAT.
Taxpayers with general questions about the CAT can email cat.help.dor@oregon.gov or call 503-945-8005.
To get tax forms, check the status of your refund, or make tax payments, visit oregon.gov/dor or email questions.dor@oregon.gov. You also can call 800-356-4222 toll-free from an Oregon prefix (English or Spanish) or 503-378-4988 in Salem and outside Oregon. For TTY (hearing- or speech-impaired), we accept all relay calls.
