Oregon Tax Court Lacks Jurisdiction Over Refund Debt Offset Suit

Two residents can’t pursue a lawsuit challenging the use of their income tax refunds to offset unrelated debt owed to Oregon, because the state tax court doesn’t have jurisdiction over such issues.

There isn’t a statute conferring or barring jurisdiction over such matters, so the operative question is whether the refund offset issue falls under state tax laws, the opinion dated Thursday and released Friday said. It doesn’t, the Oregon Tax Court concluded.

• “In applying the refund amounts to other debt owed to the state,” the state’s Department of Revenue wasn’t applying the tax laws, “but instead exercised the common-law ...