Multnomah County and City of Portland Business Tax

Effective January 1, 2023, Mult​C​o/Pdx will begin using market based sourcing as the methodology used to determine income taxable within their individual jurisdictions. 

This change conforms to the ​State of Oregon, which began using market base​d sourcing in 2018. MultCo/PDX follows the apportionment and allocation provisions found in the Oregon revised statutes, chapter 314, 317, and 318 and related Oregon Administrative Rules.

How does this affect your business?

If your business is located ​I​NSIDE Multnomah ​County/PDX, some of your income may ​N​O LONGER be subject to MultCo/PDX tax.

If your business is located ​OUTSIDE of Multnomah ​C​ounty/PDX, you may now have income that​ IS subject to Mult​C​o/Pdx ​tax.

Beginning January 1, 2024 Casler Financial requires all business revenue to be broken out by income that IS subject to Mult​C​o/Pdx tax and income that IS NOT subject to Mult​C​o/Pdx tax. The guidelines for determining what income is subject to Mult​C​o/Pdx tax v​ary depending on the type of service/product your business provides.

We have included the basic guidelines for in person services, sales of services or physical goods that are delivered, and professional services to help you determine what income is subject to MultCo/Pdx tax. 

Please contact me if you have any questions or need assistance​ determining how these changes affect your individual business.

In person services are services that are physically provided in person by the taxpayer to the customer or the property of the customer. This includes services provided on behalf of the taxpayer by a third-party contractor.

In person services include but are not limited:

• Medical and dental

• Salon/spa

• Carpentry and construction

• Cleaning services

• Live entertainment

• Child care

• Athletic performance 

• In person lessons 
  

Note: professional services are NOT treated as in person services.

The gross receipts of all in person services that are performed in MultCo/PDX are subject to the tax.

Sales of services or physical goods that are delivered to a customer in Mult​C​o/Pdx are subject to the tax, even if the service was performed outside of Mult​C​o/Pdx or the product was shipped from outside Mult​C​o/Pdx.

Example 1: ​Your factory is located in Oregon ​City, but ships items to a customer in Mult​C​o/Pdx. The gross receipts from the sale are subject to the tax.

Example 2: ​Your factory is located in Mult​C​o/Pdx but ships items to a customer in Oregon City. The gro​ss receipts from the sale are not subject to the MultCo/PDX tax.

Professional services require specialized knowledge, and​ in some cases, a professional certification, license, or degree. Professional services include but are not limited to:

• Management

• Fiduciary

• Tax preparation

• Graphic design 

• Bank/financial

• Consulting

• Payroll/accounting

• Video production

• Legal

• Credit card processing

• *Architectural

• Investment brokerage

• Lending

• Data processing

• *Engineering

​Gross receipts from professional services to an individual customer are assigned:

• First – to the customers primary residence, not the location where services are provided. 

• Second – to the billing address if the primary residence is unknown.

​Gross receipts derived from professional services to a business​ customer are assigned:

• First to the address of where the customer's business is​ principally managed.

• Second, to the customer's place of order.

• Third to the customer's billing address.

​*G​ross receipts from architectural or engineering services provided to an individual or business are assigned to the location that the plans are being drawn up for.

Example 3: ​Your law office is located in Oregon ​City, but your client lives in Mult​C​o/Pdx. All meetings happen at your Oregon ​City office, no business is conducted in Multnomah county PDX. The gross amount collected from this client IS subject to the Mult​C​o/Pdx business taxes.

Example 4: Your law office is located in Mult​C​o/Pdx but your client lives in Oregon ​City. All meetings happen at your Mult​C​o/Pdx office, no business is conducted in Oregon city. The gross amount collected from this client is not subject to the Multnomah county PDX taxes.

Example 5: ​Your architectural firm is located in Mult​C​o/Pdx. You are drawing up plans for a home that will be built in Bend. The gross amount collected from this client​ is not subject to the Mult​C​o/Pdx business taxes.

Example 6: ​Your architectural firm is located in Bend. Your​ are drawing up plans for a home that will be built in Mult​C​o/Pdx. The gross amount collected from the client is subject to the Mult​C​o/Pdx taxes.

I hope this information ​helps you to determine ​if some or all of your gross income is going to be subject to these new taxes. I know it's confusing and I'm sorry! I'm just the messenger. I am hear to help if you have questions about what income is and is not subject to the Multnomah County/City of Portland business taxes.

I also want to give a big thanks and shout out to Kari Mitchell of Kari Mitchell Accounting here in Oregon City. She typed up this helpful document for her clients and was kind enough to share it with me. Her and her firm have much more capacity and experience with larger companies and I highly recommend her and her team if you are looking for a full service CPA firm to handle your business accounting needs. (She is also well known and loved in our local community for generously allowing residents to park in her parking lot when there are events happening in downtown Oregon City.)