About the kicker
The Oregon surplus refund, also known as the “kicker,” is a way for the state to return excess revenue to taxpayers. The kicker may be claimed on the return for an odd-numbered year when a revenue surplus has been determined. The kicker isn’t available on the return for an even-numbered year, so there is no kicker available on your 2024 return.
For more information, see our FAQ. If a kicker will be available for tax year 2025, the percentage amount will be announced in November 2025. If a kicker is announced, we’ll provide a “What's My Kicker?” calculator at that time.
Frequently asked questions
Your kicker amount is based on the prior year’s tax liability. Your tax liability is your Oregon income tax before any credits, withholding, or payments, other than a credit for income taxes paid to another state on mutually taxed income.
To be eligible for a kicker, you must: 1. File your 2022 Oregon return before you file your 2023 return. 2. Have an Oregon tax liability for 2022. 3. File a 2023 Oregon return, even if you don't otherwise have a filing requirement.
To calculate your kicker amount, multiply your 2022 tax liability by the kicker percentage. For 2023, the kicker percentage is 44.28 percent (0.4428). The instructions for your Oregon return have worksheets you can use if you need help, especially if your filing status on your 2023 return will be different from the filing status on your 2022 return.
No. All taxpayers who must pay personal income tax may claim a kicker. This includes individuals, trusts, estates, and nonresident individuals who join in a composite return filed on their behalf by a pass-through entity.
You may request that we separate your joint refund and issue your share to you. However, the entire refund will be split according to your share of income on your return for the kicker year, not just the kicker portion. See Oregon Administrative Rule 150-314-0254 and our “What happens after I file?” webpage for details.
If the person’s final return was filed for that year and they had a tax liability, a return can be filed to claim the kicker on their behalf. If the deceased person was married, their surviving spouse can claim the entire kicker; otherwise, the deceased person’s representative may file the return to claim the kicker.
If a person who is eligible for a kicker passes away during the kicker year, the kicker may be claimed on the person’s final return or on a joint return filed by a surviving spouse.
If you elected to join in a composite return filed by the entity for the 2022 tax year, your kicker should be claimed on the composite return that the entity files for the 2023 tax year. If you’re no longer an owner of the entity, or if you won’t be joining the composite return for the kicker year, the entity can still claim the kicker on your behalf by including you on the composite return for that purpose.
You won’t be eligible for a kicker until the return for the prior year has been filed. If you file your 2022 return after filing your 2023 return, you will have to wait for us to determine your kicker once your 2022 return has been processed.
If you filed a joint return for 2022, but you were separated or divorced during 2023, your kicker amount will be based on your share of Oregon income after additions and subtractions. If you were unmarried (or married to a different spouse) during 2022, but you were married during 2023, you will combine your separate kicker amounts on your joint return. See the instructions for your Oregon return for details and helpful worksheets.
Yes. You can elect to donate your kicker to the Oregon State School Fund for K-12 public education. You must check a box on the return and donate the entire amount. If you change your mind, you must amend your return by the filing deadline, including extensions. Your election to donate the kicker can’t be changed once the return filing deadline has passed.
You can also donate your kicker or other tax refund to one or more of the charities approved by the Charitable Checkoff Commission when you file your return. Use Schedule OR-DONATE to contribute any amount of your refund to charity.
If there is a corporate kicker, it all goes to K-12 public education funding.
No, unless you forget to claim it when you file your return; you’ll receive a check for your kicker only if you didn’t provide direct deposit information for a refund on the return.
The kicker is treated like a state income tax refund. A state income tax refund may be included in your federal income if you claimed an itemized deduction for state income taxes on a past federal return. If you itemize deductions on your 2023 federal return and are credited with a kicker on your Oregon return, you will be issued a Form 1099-G that includes the total amount of the kicker, even if you donated it to the State School Fund or some of it was used to pay your tax or other debt.
The instructions for your federal return will help you figure out whether you need to include any of the kicker in your income for the year you receive it. If you include it in your federal income, you’ll subtract it on your Oregon return. You can access your Form 1099-G using Revenue Online.
Yes, if you had a tax liability on the return that you filed and you file a nonresident return for the kicker year.
Oregon may use all or part of your refund to pay
outstanding state debt. Some examples include: child support, court fines,
previous year’s tax debt, school loans.
History of the kicker
The 1979 Oregon Legislative Assembly passed the "Two percent kicker" law as a way to control state spending. The law requires the state to compare its revenue estimate (forecast) for each biennium (the two-year period starting on July 1 of each odd-numbered year) to the amount actually received during that biennium. After the biennium ends, if actual revenue exceeds the forecast amount by more than 2 percent, the revenue surplus is refunded to taxpayers or used to fund Oregon K-12 schools.
When the kicker first started, it was credited to taxpayers as a percentage of their tax after all credits on their return for the kicker year. In the mid-1990s, this refund mechanism was changed to a check that was mailed out in December. The amount was based on tax before credits on the return for the prior year.
In 1999, when the kicker was in danger of being repealed, a bill was passed that would add the kicker law to the Constitution of Oregon. The constitutional amendment was approved by voters in 2000. Taxpayers were also given the option of donating their kicker to the State School Fund instead of receiving it.
In 2011, the refund mechanism was changed back to an amount claimed on the return for the kicker year, with the amount based on the prior year’s tax. This is the current mechanism.
The table below shows the kickers that have occurred since the law was first enacted.