OAR 150-321-0640: Timber Subject to the Small Tract Forestland Severance Tax

(1) Timber subject to the Small Tract Forestland Severance Tax is the following: (a) All logs that can be measured in board feet and meet the requirements of sawmill grades or better. (A) Logs must be measured in western Oregon by the current edition of Official Rules for the following Log Scaling and Grading Bureaus: Columbia River, Northern California, Pacific Rim, Southern Oregon, Yamhill, developed by the Northwest Log Rules Advisory Group (NWLRAG). All sections of the publication are recognized including the Appendix. (B) Logs must be measured in eastern Oregon by the Scribner Decimal "C" Eastside Short Log Rule, using the NWLRAG Eastside Log Scaling Handbook, First Edition 2003. (b) Logs measured in tons and sold by the weight when they meet the conditions of (A) or (B) below. Logs must be reported on the timber tax return by thousand board feet (MBF). Logs must be converted from tons to MBF using conversion factors established by the Department of Revenue. These conversion factors are listed on the tax forms & instructions sent out annually by the department. (A) The loads of logs contain a minimum of 20 percent of the log count at 5-inch, 6-inch and 7-inch scaling diameter. The “Chip Logs” conversion factor will be used to convert this type of load from tons to thousand board feet (MBF) for tax reporting. (B) Loads of logs in which all logs measure 5-inch scaling diameter and larger, or the load contains three or more logs with 8-inch or larger scaling diameter. The “Small Saw Logs” conversion factor will be used to convert this type of load from tons to MBF for tax reporting. (c) Logs chipped in the woods, except chips produced from material not meeting log merchantability standards in subsection (a) above and used as hog fuel. (2) Timber not subject to Small Tract Forestland Severance Tax is secondary products, other than chips, manufactured in the woods and produced from logs normally left in the forest or burned as slash. Examples are shake or shingle bolts, fence posts, firewood and arrow bolts. (3) When timber is harvested from the eastside, but scaled using westside log scaling rule, the volume must be adjusted to reflect the eastside log scaling rule volume. Taxpayers may use their own conversion factors if they are supported by statistically sound sample data; otherwise, the westside volume must be multiplied by 1.28 to get the equivalent eastside scaled volume.