It’s Tax Day, and the Oregon kicker means good news for most filers

Monday is the deadline for filing both federal and state taxes.

So far about 1.7 million returns have been processed in Oregon.

Robin Maxey, with the Oregon Department of Revenue, said people are racing to meet the deadline. By 10 a.m. Monday, there were already 130,000 newly filed returns in line to be processed.

“We’ve received 400,000 in the last two weeks,” Maxey said. “But we still have half a million to go.”

Oregon has about 2.2 million taxpayers.

Authorities hope Oregonians will be more motivated this year because many are likely to get a significant refund. Anyone who paid Oregon taxes in 2022 is eligible for a kicker refund this year.

Related: Oregon’s massive kicker is spurring a fresh look at the state’s unique tax rebate law

The typical Oregonian will receive about a $980 refund. As of Monday, only about half of the money put aside for the kicker had been paid out.

Maxey said those who paid the most in taxes will get the largest kicker checks.

“If you haven’t received your kicker yet, you should get your taxes filed so that you can claim your kicker and get your refund,” Maxey said.

People struggling to meet the April 15 tax filing deadline are advised to seek an extension. In Oregon, that gives filers another six months to do the paperwork, until October 16.

The Oregon Department of Revenue website has a number of tools available to help taxpayers.

“We have the ‘What’s My Kicker?’ calculator that’ll help you figure out your kicker amount,” Maxey said. “We also have the ‘Where’s my Refund?’ tool, once you’ve filed, to help you track your refund.”

There are also videos and a new virtual assistant called ‘Doug.’

“Doug is not AI,” Maxey said. “Doug just has pre-programmed questions and pre-programmed answers. So he will get smarter, but not on his own. We’ll have to help him get smarter.”