Quietly last month, the Oregon Department of Revenue began offering
to all state taxpayers.
The new service, provided in partnership with TurboTax's parent
., should give taxpayers one more reason to file their returns without paying a tax pro or software provider to do it. It's ideal "if you’re comfortable filling out your tax forms and know what to report where," department spokesman Derrick Gasperini said.
For several years now, federal taxpayers have been able to fill out and file their personal income tax forms for free online using
.
But when it came to filing state returns, Oregon taxpayers either had to
or they had to print the completed forms and mail them.
"This has no limitations," Gasperini said. "Anyone can use it."
The bare-bones service provides no preparation help like software programs do. But it automatically calculate portions of the returns, speeding the process a bit. It also allows taxpayers to save a partly completed form and return to it at a later date.
The department made the service available
Jan. 26 but didn't promote it heavily, Gasperini said.
"We wanted to make sure there weren’t any issues with the files being submitted," Gasperini said. So far, 750 returns have been filed through the system, he said. "The files have been coming in great. It is something we’re excited about."
E-filed returns also cost the state less to process and contain fewer errors. Last year, three-quarters of all Oregon returns last year were filed electronically, Gasperini said.
Intuit also is providing the service with no income limits to state taxpayers in
and
.
If you use the system, you'll need to complete your federal return before you can start working on your Oregon form.
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