ORS 315.522 Certification; application to Oregon Business Development Department; fees; rules

A taxpayer seeking to claim the credit provided under ORS 315.518 shall file for each tax year a written application for certification with the Oregon Business Development Department. The application must include:

A description of how the taxpayer meets the definition of a qualified semiconductor company under ORS 315.518;

A description of how proposed research and development activities for which the taxpayer seeks a tax credit under ORS 315.518 will support the taxpayer in conducting a business or trade directly related to semiconductors; and

Any other information that is required by the department by rule.

An application for certification under this section must be accompanied by a payment of any fee established by the department by rule under subsection (4) of this section.

After considering timely filed and complete applications, along with amounts available under section 8, chapter 298, Oregon Laws 2023, the department shall, if the department deems appropriate, issue a certification to an applicant taxpayer if the department determines that the taxpayer is a qualified semiconductor company as that term is defined under ORS 315.518, and if the taxpayer attests that the proposed research and development activities for which the taxpayer seeks the credit under ORS 315.518 will support the taxpayer in conducting a trade or business directly related to semiconductors.

The department shall establish by rule a fee for filing a written application for certification under this section. The fee shall be adequate to recover the costs incurred by the department in reviewing the applications under this section.

Information submitted to the department under this section or section 5, chapter 298, Oregon Laws 2023, is exempt from public disclosure under ORS 192.311 to 192.478 and must be treated as confidential. [2023 c.298 §4]

Sec. 1. Sections 2 to 5 of this 2023 Act [315.518 to 315.522 and section 5] are added to and made a part of ORS chapter 315. [2023 c.298 §1]

Sec. 5. Registration required for initial tax year of credit availability. (1) In order to be allowed a credit under section 2 of this 2023 Act [315.518] for a tax year beginning in calendar year 2024, a taxpayer that intends to claim the credit for that tax year shall file not later than December 1, 2023, a registration with the Oregon Business Development Department.

The registration required under this section shall be submitted in a form and manner prescribed by the department by rule and shall include:

Documentation of the taxpayer’s qualified research expenses and basic research expenses under section 2 of this 2023 Act, averaged over the three preceding calendar years; and

A projection, for the tax year beginning in calendar year 2024, of the taxpayer’s qualified research expenses and basic research expenses under section 2 of this 2023 Act.

Not later than December 31, 2023, the department shall provide acknowledgment to any taxpayer that has timely registered under this section and shall provide preliminary confirmation that the taxpayer appears eligible for the credit allowed under section 2 of this 2023 Act.

The department shall submit information collected pursuant to this section to the Legislative Revenue Officer not later than February 1, 2024.

Any taxpayer that does not register as required under this section is not eligible to claim a credit under section 2 of this 2023 Act for a tax year beginning in calendar year 2024.

This section does not apply to taxpayer eligibility for credits allowed for any tax year that begins on or after January 1, 2025. [2023 c.298 §5]

Sec. 6. Report by Legislative Revenue Officer. (1) The Legislative Revenue Officer shall prepare a report detailing the information submitted by applicants under section 5 of this 2023 Act. Information released or summarized in the report must be sufficiently anonymized and aggregated so that the report does not reasonably allow an individual whose information is included in the report to be identified. Not later than March 1, 2024, the officer shall submit the report, in the manner provided by ORS 192.245, to the legislative committees of the Legislative Assembly related to revenue.

The legislative committees of the Legislative Assembly related to revenue:

Shall review the contents of the report required under this section;

Shall consider options for modifying the provisions of sections 2 to 5 of this 2023 Act [315.518 to 315.522 and section 5] and for establishing criteria for granting certifications under section 4 of this 2023 Act [315.522] and accommodating the limitations in section 8 of this 2023 Act; and

May develop legislation intended to further options selected by the committees as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection and proposed for consideration during the 2024 regular session of the Eighty-second Legislative Assembly. [2023 c.298 §6]

Sec. 7. Section 6 of this 2023 Act is repealed on January 2, 2025. [2023 c.298 §7]

Sec. 8. Biennial limitations on credits allowed all taxpayers. The total amount of potential tax credits for all qualified semiconductor companies in this state may not, at the time of certification under section 4 of this 2023 Act [315.522], exceed:

$35 million for the biennium beginning July 1, 2023;

$80 million for the biennium beginning July 1, 2025;

$90 million for the biennium beginning July 1, 2027; and

$50 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2029. [2023 c.298 §8]

Sec. 12. Sections 2 to 5 of this 2023 Act [315.518 to 315.522 and section 5] apply to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2024, and before January 1, 2030.