Multnomah County Preschool for All Tax Rates and Thresholds

The Multnomah County Preschool for All tax is a personal income tax of 1.5% on Oregon taxable income above $125,000 for single filers and $200,000 for joint filers, with an additional 1.5% (3% total) on income above $250,000 single or $400,000 joint. The City of Portland Revenue Division collects it, and filing happens through the Portland Revenue Online portal.¹

Rates and Income Thresholds

The structure is marginal, so you only pay on the dollars above each threshold, not on your whole income.

Single filers: 1.5% on Oregon taxable income above $125,000, plus another 1.5% on income above $250,000.
Joint filers: 1.5% on Oregon taxable income above $200,000, plus another 1.5% on income above $400,000.¹

A single filer with $300,000 of Oregon taxable income pays 1.5% on the $125,000 falling between $125,000 and $250,000 ($1,875), plus 3% on the $50,000 above $250,000 ($1,500), for $3,375 total. The first $125,000 is untaxed.

Both rates step up on January 1, 2027. The lower tier moves from 1.5% to 2.3%, and the upper tier from 3% to 3.8%.¹ That increase was written into the original measure.

What Income the Tax Applies To

The base is your Oregon taxable income, the same number used on your Oregon state return. Wages, self-employment income, rental income, and capital gains all count if they put you above the threshold.¹

Two income types stay out. Social Security benefits are not taxable in Oregon, so they do not enter the Preschool for All base at all. Oregon PERS retirement income is also exempt because state law bars local governments from taxing PERS benefits.¹ A retiree whose income is mostly Social Security and PERS may owe nothing even if the gross number looks high.

Deductions you take on your Oregon return (itemized deductions, IRA contributions, student loan interest) reduce your Preschool for All base along with your state tax.

Who Owes It

Full-Year Residents

If you live in Multnomah County for the full tax year, 100% of your Oregon taxable income is subject to the tax, no matter where it was earned.¹ You are generally a county resident if you are domiciled there, or if you keep a home in the county and spend more than 200 days there during the year. The residency rules track Oregon’s state framework, applied at the county level.²

Non-Residents With Income From the County

Live outside the county but earn money inside it, and you owe the tax only on that county-sourced income.¹ For wages, the formula divides days actually worked inside Multnomah County by total workdays everywhere, then applies that ratio to your wages.³ Keep a daily log of your work location; the Revenue Division can ask for backup.

Part-Year Residents

If you moved into or out of the county during the year, you owe tax on all income earned while you were a resident, plus any county-sourced income from the period you were a non-resident.⁴ The exact date of your move matters because it splits the two calculations.

Employer Withholding

Employers with a physical location in the county must register with Portland Revenue Online and automatically withhold the tax from employees earning over $200,000 a year.¹ Employees under that threshold can opt in if they expect to owe, which is common when a working spouse pushes a joint return above $200,000.

Withholding is an advance payment, not a final calculation. If too much was withheld, you claim the overpayment on your return. If too little came out, which happens when you have investment income or a mid-year raise, you pay the difference by the filing deadline. Self-employed filers get no withholding and have to cover the whole liability through estimates or at filing.

Estimated Payments

Starting with tax year 2026, quarterly estimated payments are required if your Preschool for All liability is $5,000 or more in both the current year and the prior year. For tax years 2021 through 2025, the trigger was $1,000.⁴

Quarterly due dates are April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15 of the following year, with each installment at least 25% of the annual estimate. You avoid underpayment interest by hitting one of two safe harbors: 100% of your prior year’s liability spread across the four quarters, or 90% of the current year’s liability by the January 15 payment.⁴ The prior-year number is easier to work with because you already know it.

Filing and Payment

The annual return is due April 15, aligned with the federal and Oregon state deadlines.⁵ Filing runs through Portland Revenue Online (PRO), the same portal used for the Metro Supportive Housing Services tax, and a single combined return can cover both if your residency status matches for each.⁴

To file, pull your Oregon taxable income from your state return, any W-2s or pay stubs showing Preschool for All withholding, and your residency dates if you moved. Non-residents using Form MC-40-NP also need a record of workdays inside and outside the county.³ You can pay electronically through PRO or mail a check with Form PIT-V to the Revenue Division.⁶

A federal or state filing extension is generally honored for this return, but an extension to file does not extend the time to pay. Any balance owed is still due April 15 to stop penalties and interest.

Penalties and Interest for Late Payment

Unpaid balances accrue annual interest. For the period from April 16, 2026, through April 15, 2027, the rate is 8%, or 0.667% per month.⁷ Interest runs from the original due date, not from the date you get a notice. Separate late-filing penalties also apply at rates the county adjusts periodically. An unfiled return leaves your account open for assessment indefinitely because the statute of limitations does not begin until you file, and any withholding your employer sent in cannot be credited to you until a return claims it.

The Metro Supportive Housing Services Tax Is Separate

Most people who owe the Preschool for All tax also owe the Metro Supportive Housing Services (SHS) tax, which is a different 1% levy on Oregon taxable income above $128,000 single or $205,000 joint in 2026. The two taxes share the PRO portal and can go on one combined return when residency matches, but the rules apply independently. Clearing the $5,000 quarterly-payment threshold for one does not pull the other in with it.⁴ Estimating only the Preschool for All liability and forgetting the SHS side is a frequent cause of underpayment at filing.

1
Multnomah County. Multnomah County Preschool For All Personal Income Tax
2
City of Portland. LIC-11.09 – Residency
3
City of Portland. Instructions for Form MC-40-NP (Tax Year 2025)
4
City of Portland. Personal Income Tax Filing and Payment Information
5
City of Portland. City of Portland, Metro and Multnomah County Remind Residents: File and Pay Your Taxes
6
City of Portland. Revenue Division Forms
7
City of Portland. Personal Income Tax Interest Rates on Tax Due and Refunds