2A | SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 2020 | SIUSLAW NEWS
On The Record
2020 Oregon state tax season to begin Jan. 27
The Oregon Department
of Revenue will begin pro-
cessing state tax returns on
Jan. 27, the same day the
IRS will begin processing
federal returns. Taxpayers
can submit their returns
earlier, but processing
won’t start until the tax
season officially begins.
Once processing begins,
returns will be processed
in the order received.
However, the Oregon De-
partment of Revenue won’t
be issuing personal income
tax refunds until after Feb.
15.
This refund hold is part
of the state’s tax fraud pre-
vention activities and will
allow confirmation that
the amounts claimed on
returns matches what em-
ployers report on forms
W-2 and 1099.
The IRS is also holding
federal tax refunds until
after Feb. 15, but only for
those taxpayers claiming
the Earned Income Tax
Credit or the Additional
Child Tax Credit.
Federal changes from
the 2017 Tax Cuts and
Jobs Act directly impact
Oregon’s personal income
tax, including changes to
calculating withholding al-
lowances for tax year 2019.
This may mean that
more taxpayers have a tax
to pay or may have more
tax to pay than usual.
The department encour-
ages taxpayers to use its
online withholding calcu-
lator to check their state
withholding, so they can
make any necessary chang-
es to 2020 withholding.
Also, because of these
federal tax changes, Ore-
gon now has its own W-4
called Form OR-W-4. Tax-
payers can request the new
form from their employer
or download it at www.or-
egon.gov/dor, fill it out and
return it to their employer.
It’s important to note
that beginning Jan. 1, any
changes to your state with-
holding must be made us-
ing Form OR-W-4 because
Oregon withholding is cal-
culated using allowances,
unlike the federal form.
Here are a few other
things for taxpayers to
keep in mind this tax sea-
son:
• E-filing is the fastest
way to get your tax refund.
On average, taxpayers who
e-file their returns and re-
quest their refund via di-
rect deposit receive their
refund sooner than those
who file paper returns
and request paper refund
checks.
• Some software com-
panies offer free software
use and e-filing for eligible
taxpayers. Be sure to access
the software through the
department’s website, or
the company may not al-
low you to take advantage
of the free offer.
• AARP and CASH
Oregon provide free and
low-cost tax preparation
services throughout local
communities.
• All Oregon taxpayers
preparing their own return
can file electronically at no
cost using Oregon’s free
fillable forms. For more
information, visit www.or-
egon.gov/dor and click on
“Free tax preparation ser-
vices” under “More Topics”
on the department’s home-
page.
• Anyone who needs a
personal income tax return
booklet can download and
print it from www.oregon.
CITY MEETINGS UPDATE
During the holiday sea-
son, the following sched-
uled City of Florence-re-
lated meetings or work
sessions did not take place
for different reasons rang-
ing from lack of a quorum
to holiday closures.
Here is a list of meetings
in December and January
that were canceled, most of
which have been resched-
uled.
The currently scheduled
city meetings can be found
online at https://www.ci.
florence.or.us.
December 2019
— Cancelled
Jan. 16
• City Council Work Ses-
• Community and Eco-
sion @ 10:30 a.m. — Can- nomic Development Com-
celled
mittee (CEDC) meeting
@3:45 — Cancelled
Dec. 17
• Environmental Man-
agement Advisory Com-
mittee (EMAC) meeting @
6 p.m. — Cancelled
gov/dor/forms. They can
also order a copy online,
by calling 503-378-4988 or
800-356-4222, or by mail-
ing their request — along
with their name, phone
number, and mailing ad-
dress to:
Forms
Oregon Department of
Revenue
PO Box 14999
Salem, OR 97309-0990
• Some eligible Orego-
nians may not be claiming
the federal Earned Income
Tax Credit. For more in-
formation about the credit
and eligibility, visit the IRS
website at www.irs.gov.
Employers must file
their income tax withhold-
ing returns and reports and
remit the income tax with-
held from their employees’
paychecks by Jan. 31. Em-
ployer returns and reports
due by Jan. 31 include:
• Quarterly Employer
Tax Report (Form OQ) for
the fourth quarter of 2019.
• Statewide transit tax
return (Form OR-STT-1
and STT-2), also for fourth
quarter.
• Employee Detail Re-
port (Form 132).
• W-2s and 1099s for
each employee or worker,
electronically submitted
through iWire.
• Annual withhold-
ing reconciliation report
(Form OR-WR).
For information about
an employer’s filing or pay-
ment responsibilities, visit
the department’s website
at www.oregon.gov/dor,
call 503-945-8091 or email
payroll.help.dor@oregon.
gov.
Visit www.oregon.gov/
dor to get forms, check the
status of your refund, or
make payments.
Call 503-378-4988 or
800-356-4222 (toll-free)
or email questions.dor@
oregon.gov for additional
assistance.
For TTY for hearing- or
speech-impaired, call 800-
886-7204.
D ATE
H IGH
Jan. 7 48
Jan. 8 45
Jan. 9 43
Jan. 10 48
Jan. 11 47
Jan. 12 47
Jan. 13 42
42
39
31
39
41
39
38
0.94
0.51
0.06
0.60
0.54
0.86
0.76
Courtesy of Roger Cunningham
S IUSLAW N EWS
It’s Our
Birthday!
Join us for our
100th Birthday
Celebration
Saturday, January 25th
2 pm – 5 pm
Getting your hearing tested
by the ONLY doctors of
audiology in Florence.
Come and enjoy the
history of the
Mapleton Grange!
Mapleton Grange
On East Mapleton Road
Call today to start your year off right!
BETTER
HEARING
THIS YEAR
of Florence
ASSOCIATES
541.991.4475
1901 Hwy 101, Ste A
Florence
HearingAssociatesOfFlorence.com | Doctors of Audiology
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Dec. 24
• Planning Commission
meeting @ 5:30 p.m. —
Cancelled
Dec. 25
• Florence Urban Renew-
al Agency (FURA) meeting
@ 5:30 p.m. — Rescheduled
DEATH NOTICE
el Florence Funeral Home
is in charge of arrange-
ments.
st
Every dollar donated to ShelterBox USA during the Show will be matched
up to $10,000 by Show Management. Make your donation at the Eugene
Delta Rotary exhibit of the actual emergency aid supplies & tent delivered
to families who have lost everything during natural disasters and crises.
ShelterBoxUSA.org
January 24-26
R AIN
Rainfall Week: 4.27”
Month: 7.84” Year: 7.84”
Dec. 2
• City Council work ses-
sion @ 10:30 a.m. — Can- January 2020
celled
Jan. 6
• City Council Work Ses-
Dec. 10
sion @ 10:30 a.m. — Can-
• Planning Commission celled
meeting @ 5:30 p.m.—
Cancelled
Jan. 13
• Public Art Committee
Dec. 11
(PAC) meeting @ 10 a.m.
• Florence Urban Renew- — Cancelled
al Agency (FURA) meeting
@ 5:30 p.m. — Cancelled
Jan. 14
• Planning Commission
Dec. 16
Hearing @ 5:30 p.m. —
• Public Art Committee Cancelled
(PAC) meeting @ 10 a.m.
H AW K S — J o h n H .
Hawks, 70, of Florence,
passed away Jan. 7, 2020.
Burns’s Riverside Chap-
L OW
Serving cake,
ice cream and soda
The first step to better hearing?
I WILL
HEAR
WEATHER DATA