In a case argued by Stoel Rives, the Oregon Supreme Court upheld the judgment of the Oregon Tax Court and ruled that a corporate taxpayer may use the Business Energy Tax Credit (“BETC”) to pay its Oregon minimum corporate excise tax liability. A link to the decision in Con-way Inc. & Affiliates v. Department of Revenue is here. Although the case concerned the BETC, the holding generally applies to any tax credit for which the implementing statute does not prevent the credit from being used to pay the minimum tax.
In the wake of the Oregon Tax Court’s decision in favor of Con-way, the Oregon Department of Revenue issued guidance for filing a protective refund claim, which can be found here. We understand that the Department will be updating this guidance now that the Oregon Supreme Court has ruled on the issue.
Please contact your Stoel Rives attorney if you have questions.