Before you start

An SSN or ITIN
Form W-4 with your employer for federal withholding
Oregon Form OR-W-4 for state withholding
An explicit conversation with payroll about Metro and Multnomah County withholding

Step-by-step

1
Complete the W-4 and the Oregon OR-W-4 on day one
Oregon has its own withholding form rather than deriving everything from the federal one, and the two can drift apart in a two-income household. Getting these wrong is the most common cause of an April surprise.
Via employerWho: YouFirst week of employment
2
Ask payroll explicitly about Metro and Multnomah County withholding
Employers are required to offer withholding for the Metro supportive housing tax and the Multnomah County Preschool for All tax, but for many employees it only happens if you ask. If you cross the thresholds and nothing is withheld, you owe the lot in April plus potential interest.
Via employerWho: YouFirst week of employment
3
Determine your US tax residency
The substantial presence test counts weighted days across three years to decide whether the US taxes your worldwide income or only US-source income. Certain students and scholars are exempt from counting days for a period. Your visa category does not settle this.
OnlineWho: You
4
Check for an applicable tax treaty
The US has income tax treaties with around 70 countries that can reduce or exempt particular income, especially for students, researchers and short assignments. Oregon starts from federal taxable income, so a federal treaty exclusion generally flows through to the state return — unlike California, which ignores treaties outright.
OnlineWho: You
5
File federal, Oregon and the Portland-area returns by 15 April
Metro and Multnomah County returns are filed with the City of Portland Revenue Division, not with Oregon. The Arts Tax is a separate filing again. Four returns is normal here and none of them files itself.
OnlineWho: YouBy 15 April annually
6
File an FBAR if foreign accounts exceed $10,000
Aggregate foreign financial account balances above $10,000 at any point in the year trigger a FinCEN filing, separate from your tax return. An ordinary current account at home is often enough to cross it.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Form W-2 from each employer, issued by 31 January
Form 1099s for freelance, interest and investment income
Passport and travel history for the substantial presence day count
Foreign account statements for FBAR reporting
Prior-year Oregon return, which you need to claim the kicker credit

Things most newcomers don’t know

The absence of sales tax is real money, and it is not the whole story.

Nothing is taxed at the till in Oregon — furniture, electronics, a car, a restaurant bill. Setting up a household here costs several percent less than in Dallas or Phoenix, and it makes low-income budgets meaningfully easier because sales tax is regressive. What funds it is an income tax whose 8.75% bracket begins around $10,750 of taxable income, so the trade lands hardest on salaried professionals and lightest on people who spend most of what they earn.

Source: Oregon Department of Revenue

Portland stacks three income taxes on top of Oregon's, and withholding is often opt-in.

Metro's supportive housing tax and Multnomah County's Preschool for All tax both apply above roughly $125,000 single and $200,000 joint, at 1% and 1.5% respectively, with another 1.5% higher up. Combined with Oregon's 9.9%, a high earner faces one of the steepest local income tax burdens in the country. Worse, employers do not always withhold them by default — so the first bill can arrive as a single April demand.

Source: City of Portland Revenue Division

The $35 Arts Tax is a separate return and the city does chase it.

Every Portland resident aged 18 or over with $1,000 of income, in a household above the federal poverty line, owes a flat $35 to the Arts Education and Access Fund. It is not on your state or federal return, it is not withheld, and the notice looks exactly like junk mail. Penalties accrue. From tax year 2027 it becomes $50 for single filers and $100 for joint filers.

Source: City of Portland — Arts Tax

You must file an Oregon return to receive the kicker.

Oregon's constitutional surplus refund returns money to taxpayers as a credit on the following year's return rather than a cheque. For the 2025 tax year filed in 2026 it was 9.863% of your 2024 Oregon tax liability. You must have filed the prior-year return and must file the current one, even if you owe nothing — people who skip filing in a zero-liability year simply forfeit it.

Source: Oregon Department of Revenue — surplus kicker

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming your employer withholds the Metro and Multnomah County taxes automatically.
Binning the Arts Tax notice as junk mail and accumulating penalties.
Not filing an Oregon return in a zero-liability year and forfeiting the kicker credit.
Comparing an Oregon salary against a Texas one on headline rates without counting sales tax and property tax.
Missing the FBAR because a home-country account did not feel 'foreign'.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.