Portland business income taxes, permits and wash water rules

Oregon has no sales tax, but Portland makes up for it with business income taxes, a strict stormwater code and a permit office that checks your state license. The facts here come from the Revenue Division, Portland Permitting and Development, the Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) and the city code, as read in October 2026. Treat it as a starting point rather than legal or tax advice, and call the listed office to confirm anything you plan to act on.

Oregon licenses contractors, Portland checks the license and taxes the income

The state layer is the Construction Contractors Board (CCB) license, the Building Codes Division trade licenses, workers' comp and state tax. Our Oregon contractor licenses guide and the Oregon start-up page cover it. Portland's page on contractor license requirements says all contractors using Permits Online must hold a CCB license. It adds that a plumbing permit also needs a BCD plumbing license with the letters PB, and an electrical permit needs a BCD Electrical Contractor's License plus a licensed signing supervisor. Landscape Contractors Board numbers are not accepted by the DevHub system; those applications go by email to the trade permits desk. Portland's page lists no separate city contractor registration, so confirm with Permitting and Development at 503-823-7300 if you hear otherwise.

Two income taxes, one office

The Revenue Division collects both the City of Portland Business License Tax and the Multnomah County Business Income Tax. Its business tax page lists the city rate at 2.6 percent and the county rate at 2 percent, and both are taxes on net business income, not on receipts. A taxfiler is exempt when gross receipts from all business, wherever earned, fall below a threshold. For the county the threshold is $100,000. For the city it is $50,000 through tax year 2025, $75,000 for 2026 and $100,000 for years starting on or after January 1, 2027. Qualifying for the exemption does not end the paperwork: the page says exempt taxfilers must still file a return to request it.

Register within 60 days of meeting the registration criteria. Extensions to file run six months, with no extension to pay, so the October 15 extension date still needs a payment made by April. The Revenue Division lists estimated payment dates for calendar-year filers of April 15, June 15, September 15 and December 15; check its page for whether your liability triggers them. The Revenue Division's page also lists a Metro Supportive Housing Services income tax at 1 percent, which it says applies to businesses with gross receipts over $5 million, so it is unlikely to touch a small crew. Oregon's own Corporate Activity Tax is a different tax that starts at $750,000 of Oregon commercial activity, as the state data in our Oregon guide notes.

What needs a building permit

Portland Permitting and Development's residential page names these jobs, for one- and two-family homes, as exempt from a building permit: painting buildings, replacing interior wall, floor or ceiling coverings, replacing or repairing siding that is not required to be fire-resistant, building a fence up to 7 feet high that meets zoning rules, and building stairs, a patio or a deck no more than 30 inches above grade. It also says reroofing with a material of similar weight needs no building permit. Re-roofing does need a permit in Wildfire Zones and on townhouses. A fence over 7 feet and a deck over 30 inches do need one, and zoning rules apply to all development, even when no building permit is required.

Trees are a separate permit. The city's tree page says a private-property tree 12 inches in diameter, measured 4.5 feet up, or larger needs a removal permit. In certain environmental overlay zones and plan districts a tree of any size may need one, and all work on a Heritage Tree needs a permit. Tree work tied to a building project is reviewed with the building permit. Call Urban Forestry at 503-823-8733 (503-823-TREE) before you quote a removal.

Construction hours, leaf blowers and fines

Portland's noise code, section 18.10.060, and the Noise Control Program set construction hours of 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, at a limit of 85 dBA measured at 50 feet for commercial construction equipment. The code's night, weekend and holiday limits start at 6 p.m. Saturday and run to 7 a.m. Monday, and they also apply on legal holidays. Sundays, holidays and hours outside the window are not daytime hours, and exterior work near homes then is likely to violate the code. Pavement breakers, concrete saws, rock drills and pile drivers are exempt from the 85 dBA limit during daytime hours only. Pile drivers have their own hours, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, with notice mailed to residences within 500 feet 30 days ahead.

The noise program's page lists a $5,000 citation per violation and a possible court-ordered stop work order. A variance request for work outside the hours is due at least four business days ahead, and anything filed fewer than ten business days ahead pays accelerated review fees. Landscapers face a separate rule in section 18.10.035: leaf blowers cannot run from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. in residential zones or the adjoining right-of-way, or from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. in commercial, industrial and open space zones unless the blower meets the code's quiet-equipment provisions; right-of-way next to a residential zone counts as residential. From March 1 through October 31, a blower not on the city's 65 dBA certified list is a violation; from November 1 through February 28 the 70 dBA list applies.

Wash water: Portland has a mobile washer program

Pressure washing is where Portland differs most from other cities. City code chapter 17.39 prohibits discharging pressure washing and graffiti removal wash water into the stormwater system, chapter 17.32 bars running water from any source onto sidewalks, streets and right-of-way without authorization, and chapter 17.34 requires approval before discharging to the sanitary sewer. BES says non-toxic, non-hazardous wash water may be diverted onto a vegetated or unpaved area on the property, and wash water with hazardous chemicals or solvents must go to a permitted industrial wastewater facility. A business that wants to send wash water to the sanitary or combined sewer needs a Mobile Washer Discharge Authorization.

The program covers mobile power washers, mobile fleet washers, graffiti removal services and trash receptacle cleaners. It limits discharge pH to 5.0 to 11.5, checked on site before discharge, and flow to 50 gallons per minute. Wastewater with fats, oils and grease goes through an approved grease removal device. You carry a site-specific work plan, a site drainage map and the authorization in the vehicle, and you submit an annual certification of compliance. The authorization covers exterior surface washing only. BES recommends dry weather, barriers around inlets and a wet/dry vacuum, and takes questions at 503-823-5600. Our pressure washing start-up guide covers the equipment side.

The wet season sets the work

NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals for Portland International Airport show 36.92 inches of precipitation a year, 4.2 inches of snow and a 55.1 degree annual average. July averages 0.51 inches and August 0.54, against 5.45 in November and 5.77 in December. The dry window is short, so exterior painting, roof work and washing are booked weeks ahead for July through September.

How Portland's rules show up in your marketing and calls

Print your CCB license number in the header of your website and in each quote, since the city checks it when you pull permits. Describe your wash water handling on service pages if you offer washing, since customers in Portland hear about the rules from the city. An AI receptionist can ask whether the property is in a Wildfire Zone, a townhouse or a Heritage Tree situation so you quote the right permit steps. Our call recording guide explains the consent rules for recorded calls.

Frequently asked questions