Ohio Commercial Activity Tax – Ohio Board of Tax Appeals relies on federal income tax treatment of vehicle financing transactions for reversal of CAT assessment.
March 4, 2020
A common question in many Ohio commercial activity tax (CAT) audits is whether federal tax treatment may be relied upon. Although the statute says it should (R.C. 5751.01(K)), the Tax Commissioner is often reluctant to accept the federal treatment for CAT purposes – a gross receipts-based tax, not an income tax. The Ohio Board of… Read More
Ohio Drafts Rule Limiting Retroactive Consolidated Filing Elections
January 27, 2020
The Ohio Department of Taxation has proposed a regulation change that would prevent taxpayers from making a retroactive consolidated filing election for Ohio Commercial Activity Tax purposes (CAT). The rule change appears to be an attempt to limit the application of a recent BTA decision where a taxpayer was permitted to make a retroactive consolidated… Read More
Ohio Department of Taxation, Commercial Activity Tax, CAT Tax
Ohio sales / use tax: Statute expanding oil & gas exemption applies retroactively to purchases of hydraulic fracturing equipment
December 31, 2019
The Tenth District Ohio Court of Appeals recently applied a statutory amendment clarifying the oil & gas exemption for Ohio sales & use tax retroactively. Interestingly, while this appeal was pending at the Board of Tax Appeals, the legislature amended the statute to clarify the scope of the exemption for fracking equipment. Although legislation is… Read More
Ohio sales / use tax: High-speed communication cable lines are now nontaxable real property improvements creating significant refund opportunity for taxpayers
October 28, 2019
The Ohio Board of Tax Appeals recently overturned precedent and held that the installation of industry-standard communication lines constituted nontaxable real property improvements rather than taxable business fixtures. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. v. McClain, Ohio BTA Case No. 2018-313 (October 22, 2019). Despite a previous ruling that the same type of cabling was a business… Read More