Ohio House Approves Legislation Streamlining Tax Administration and Compliance in Ohio

State Representative Gary Scherer (R-Circleville) has announced that the Ohio House of Representatives today concurred on Senate changes to House Bill 492, legislation that streamlines and simplifies the administration of taxes in the state of Ohio.

A component of the Mid-Biennium Review (MBR) package of bills, House Bill 492 addresses a variety of tax and compliance issues, including:

• Shifting the duty of selling cigarette tax stamps and receiving cigarette tax returns from the Treasurer of State to the Tax Commissioner
• Renaming the tax levied on the basis of gross receipts from the first sale of motor fuel in the state from the “motor fuel receipts tax” to the “petroleum activity tax” (PAT)
• Changes the basis on which the petroleum activity tax (PAT) is computed from a taxpayer’s actual gross receipts to a per-gallon, average price-per-gallon basis
• Exempts receipts from certain exchanges between parties in which no money is paid other than to compensate for fuel grade, location or handling
• Ensuring that a petroleum activity tax (PAT) taxpayer may claim on its first PAT filing on November 10, 2014 the Job Retention/Job Creation tax credits
• Permitting taxpayers to bill or invoice the PAT to purchasers and specifies that only persons who have a sufficient business presence in Ohio are subject to the tax, but allows others to voluntarily register to be subject to the tax

“This legislation benefits both Ohio businesses and the Department of Taxation by making complicated tax laws much easier for all parties,” said Representative Scherer.

House Bill 492 has received the support of the Ohio Department of Taxation Commissioner Joe Testa, Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chairman Todd Snitchler, and Ohio Development Services Agency Chief of Business Services Daryl Hennessy.

House Bill 492 passed with bipartisan support and awaits Governor Kasich’s signature.