(Photo by Karolina Grabowska)
The Oregon Department of Revenue reminds taxpayers that the filing and payment deadline for 2020 Corporate Activity Tax (CAT) returns is April 15.
The CAT was created by the Oregon Legislature in 2019 to increase funding for education. It is a calendar-year tax and is based on a business’s commercial activity — the total amount realized by a taxpayer from the transactions and activity in the regular course of their business in Oregon.
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 they do not have to pay tax.
The tax is $250 plus 0.57 percent of commercial activity greater than $1 million after subtractions.
A Return Instructions training video and links to five approved e-filing vendors are available to assist business taxpayers with filing their first CAT returns for Oregon’s Corporate Activity Tax.
The 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.
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.
