By Gary Hunt, senior content editor
Getting optional centralized collection of municipal net profits taxes enacted in Ohio’s biennial budget was a difficult task, but one that will improve the state’s business climate, Ohio Tax Commissioner Joe Testa said.
Testa, who joined us on the latest episode of OSCPA Spotlight, said the task was made easier through the help of OSCPA.
“This was a challenge,” he said. “There were a lot of moving parts and a lot of questions asked of us. I am very grateful for OSCPA and all the business associations that came forward and prepared testimony and statements of support. We recognize how important this was for the business community in the state.”
In the first of a series on the centralized collection provision of House Bill 49, Testa discusses how the budget bill took shape. Key compromises with Ohio cities included more frequent distributions, the reduction of the administration fee from 1.0% to 0.5%, and providing cities with broad access to tax information.
“The reason is they would like to be able to take that (data), particularly the wage portion, and match it against the employer withholding – which they’re still going to be getting directly – to see if it makes sense,” Testa said. “And if there is a real big disconnect between the two, they wanted to be able to ask us to challenge that. We’re fine with that; that’s in the law now.”
Watch the rest of this episode now to hear about improvements that are in the works on the Ohio Business Gateway that will make the collection process run smoothly. And be sure to read CPA Takeaways in the coming weeks for more in this conversation.