Questions about Oregon Highway $2000 Surety bond

The surety bond is only for the first year as long as your account is in good standing, meaning you don’t have late payments/filings. There is a percentage of compliance that you must have in order to have the bond waived. Your first year with the bond, you’ll have to file monthly. After the bond is waived, you’ll be allowed to file quarterly.

 

I have a feeling that the OR tax is both a weight-distance and a fuel tax unlike NM, KY, and NY. Maybe I’m wrong. I’ve been trying to get that confirmed but keep getting different answers. The OR tax is very high compared to the others, but it may just be because there are more miles to travel in OR.

 

It’s not a fuel tax, as far as I know it’s only a weight-distance fee. It may be more because they don’t collect fuel tax at the pump. Oregon wants their money for every mile you drive. Lol. They’ve even floated the idea of mileage fee for personal vehicles because they’re not making enough off the fuel tax.

 

I think I found the answer from the IFTA manual. In short, it’s not a fuel tax.

 

You pre-pay the ton/mile tax when you buy a permit. If you purchase to enter at Ashland and exit at Vancouver, don't get caught at Troutdale. Cost you 500.00 + the extra mileage.

 

I file monthly and pay the fees. Most of my business is up there so it's just part of the cost of doing business. I just figure the cost into my bids on jobs and it works out. If you're going from CA to WA and back, driving through OR ads about $120 to your costs for the round trip. Since fuel is about $1.25 per gallon cheaper in OR, you can save there, but make sure you top off in CA to help offset their .70 cent per gallon IFTA tax.

 

Thank you for the reply, I think this is pretty clear. But do you know at what point they will reimburse the bond? 3 month? 1 year? Also, when we can start filing quarterly?

 

Sorry I did not get the fuel tax part. Why you want to top off in CA, not just adding as much as you can in Oregon since it's cheaper?

 

Because in California, they charge you for the IFTA taxes regardless if you buy fuel in CA or not. Let's say that you drove 3,000 miles in CA last month and your fuel mileage averages 6.5 miles per gallon. So according to California you should have purchased 461.5 gallons of fuel to drive that 3,000 miles Now lets say you didn't purchase any fuel in CA and bought it all in OR. CA will charge you.70 cents for every gallon that you "should" have bought in CA or $325.85. Every gallon you do buy in CA decreases that tax amount. So you saved around $500 bucks buying fuel in Oregon, but California will take $325 of it in taxes. Isn't California great?

 

By your math you are still better off getting your fuel in Oregon. You would save 175 dollars doing it that way.

Sure you have to cut a check but your still money ahead.