150-101-402 (Rev. 12-18)
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General information
What is Oregon income tax withholding?
Oregon income tax withholding refers to the amount of
Oregon personal income taxes that are withheld from your
paychecks to cover your anticipated Oregon tax liability for
the year. By law, your employer must withhold a portion of
your wages based on your allowances and send the funds
to the Department of Revenue.
How is the amount of Oregon income tax
withholding determined?
You report your marital status, withholding allowances, and
any additional amount you want withheld to your employer
by completing Form OR-W-4. This information, along with
Publication 150-206-436, Oregon Withholding Tax Formulas,
which estimates the tax due on your wages, is used by your
employer to withhold a specific amount per pay period.
If you have too much tax withheld, you may have a refund
when you file your tax return. If you have too little tax
withheld, you may owe tax when you file your tax return,
including penalty and interest. See Publication OR-17 for
penalty and interest information.
Why has Oregon created Form OR-W-4?
In prior years, Oregon employees were able to use the fed-
eral Form W-4 to determine the number of Oregon allow-
ances needed. However, due to federal tax law changes,
the federal form no longer calculates the correct number of
Oregon allowances. Form OR-W-4 will help you calculate
allowances for Oregon income tax withholding.
Form OR-W-4 is designed to approximate the amount of
tax you will need to have withheld for Oregon. Your 2019
tax return may still result in a tax due or refund. For a more
accurate calculation, use the Oregon Withholding Calcula-
tor at www.oregon.gov/dor to calculate your allowances
for Oregon.
How often do I need to complete Form OR-W-4?
Complete a new Form OR-W-4 when you start a new job
and whenever your personal or financial situation changes,
affecting your tax situation. This includes changes in your
income, marital status, and number of dependents.
Specific information
Two-earners or multiple jobs. If you and your spouse work
or if you have more than one job, do the following on the
Form OR-W-4 for the highest paying job only:
• Enter the allowances from Worksheet C, line C5 on Form
OR-W-4, line 2.
• Enter the additional per-period amount to withhold, if any,
from Worksheet C, line C8 on Form OR-W-4, line 3.
For all other (lower-paying) jobs, skip the worksheets and
claim -0- allowances on Form OR-W-4 line 2, and -0- addi-
tional amount to be withheld on line 3.
If you (including your spouse) have more than two jobs, use
the online calculator for more accurate results.
Wages or adjusted gross income (AGI) that exceed the
threshold. Do you expect to have wages or AGI on your 2019
return that are more than $100,000 (or $200,000 if using the
married filing jointly or the qualifying widow(er) filing sta-
tus)? Consider using the online calculator to determine the
correct amounts to claim on your Form OR-W-4. Otherwise,
skip the worksheets. Check the appropriate box on line 1
for your marital status and enter -0- on line 2. You may owe
additional tax when you file your return.
Helpful tip: AGI. Your AGI is your total income minus federal
adjustments to income. The amount on your 2018 federal
Form 1040, line 7, may help you estimate your 2019 AGI.
Mid-year changes. If you’re changing your allowances part-
way through the year and you claimed too many allowances
for the first part of the year, use the online calculator to
determine the additional amount you need withheld to make
up for the shortage you had during the first part of the year.
Otherwise, you may owe tax, penalties, and interest when
you file your return. See Publication OR-17 for penalty and
interest information.
Pension or annuity payments. Form OR-W-4 can be used to
designate the amount of withholding on your pension or
annuity payments. Generally, whenever Form OR-W-4 or
the instructions refer to jobs or wages, substitute these terms
with “pension or annuity” or “pension or annuity payment.”
If your pension or annuity payment is required to be with-
held at a certain percentage, you are not able to claim allow-
ances on Form OR-W-4, line 2; however, you are able to claim
additional withholding on Form OR-W-4, line 3.
Part-year and nonresidents. If you’re a part-year or nonresi-
dent of Oregon, complete the applicable worksheets based
on amounts that will be included in the Oregon column of
your Oregon return.
Nonresident alien. If you’re a nonresident alien, you don’t
qualify to claim certain items on your Oregon return. There-
fore, we recommend that you mark “Single” on Form OR-W-
4, line 1 and enter -0- on line 2.
Exemption from withholding. If you’re exempt from with-
holding, skip the worksheets. Complete line 4 and sign Form
OR-W-4. See additional instructions for line 4 on page 2 of
the instructions.
Oregon Withholding Instructions
2019
Form OR-W-4