Oregon income tax deadline approaches
By Terry Murry on Thursday, April 2nd, 2026 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
SALEM – The Oregon Department of Revenue (DOR) can’t give you a tax break – but they can issue some tax tips. The main one is don’t wait until the last minute to file.
“As much as we wish it wasn’t, it’s normal for nearly half of returns to come in the last two weeks,” Personal Tax and Compliance Administrator Megan Denison said. “We encourage taxpayers to file early and a lot do, but there are always hundreds of thousands of returns filed in the final weeks, days, and – yes – hours before the deadline.”
The first piece of advice from DOR is to file electronically. It’s the fastest way for taxpayers to get their refunds. Last year, more than 94 percent of the personal income tax returns were filed electronically. Just 10 years ago, the total of electronic filings was 86 percent.
If you’re one of the five percent who still file a paper return, the most important advice from the department is to mail it early. While the federal and state tax deadline is April 15, DOR says that due to changes at the U.S. Postal Service, taxes mailed after Thursday, April 9 might not receive a postmark of April 15 or before.
Taxpayers who miss the suggested mail deadline of April 9 can take their return to a USPS office during regular business hours no later than April 15 and make an in-person request to have their return manually postmarked at the counter.
After regular business hours, the only way to get an on-time return by April 15 is to go to the Department of Revenue headquarters in Salem between 8 a.m. or 5 p.m. or hand deliver them to a DOR regional office in Bend, Eugene, Gresham, Medford, and Portland during regular business hours. There are no regional offices in Eastern Oregon.
