Podcast: Ruling saved more than just centralized filing

By Gary Hunt, CAE, OSCPA communications director

Last week’s appeals court decision in favor of the Ohio Department of Taxation over cities was good news for the state’s economy for several reasons, said Barbara Benton, CAE, OSCPA’s VP of government relations.

“It’s important to note that not only did the decision deal with centralized filing for purposes of the municipal net profits tax – the option for taxpayers to make single quarterly estimated payments and file only one return centrally through the Ohio Department of Taxation – but it also affects numerous other provisions,” Benton said on the latest episode of our podcast, The State of Business with the Ohio Society of CPAs. Those provisions include:

• Elimination of the municipal net profit throwback rule
• The five-year net operating loss carryforward
• Uniform treatment of penalties and interest

“So, there were a number of uniformity provisions that were adopted in 2014 that were also at risk for being overturned – not just centralized filing,” Benton said. The Department of Taxation has estimated that those provisions will combine to save Ohioans more than $800 million in administrative costs.

Also joining us on the podcast is OSCPA Tax Policy Director Greg Saul, Esq., CAE, who explains the judges’ reasoning and predicts what is likely to happen next. You can watch a preview of the conversation above, or on our YouTube Channel.

Meanwhile, an important cost-savings deadline is looming for businesses with a taxable year that begins on Jan. 1 – which is most of them.   This filing option is particularly beneficial to companies needing to make estimated payments and file municipal net profits returns in numerous cities and villages.

Next muni tax deadline is March 1

If you haven’t already opted in, don’t miss this chance to have your company or those businesses you represent save significant time and money on administrative hassles.  Ohio businesses with a taxable year that begins on Jan. 1 that want to file their 2019 municipal net profit tax return with the Ohio Department of Taxation must register by midnight, March 1.

For taxpayers and practitioners who opt in to file their municipal net profit tax return with ODT, there are now six software vendors that intend to include a Modernized e-File (MeF) option in their tax preparation packages. They include:

• CCH Incorporated (CCH ProSystem fx)
• Corptax, Inc. (Corptax)
• Drake Software (Drake Tax)
• Tax Technologies, Inc. (Tax Series)
• Thomson Reuters (GoSystem/OneSource)
• Thomson Reuters (UltraTax CS)

Click here to opt in now with the Ohio Department of Taxation. More details about this new filing and payment option are spelled out in ODT’s Taxpayer Information Guide.

Also by March 1, businesses that intend to file centrally must notify each municipal corporation in which the taxpayer conducted business during the previous taxable year on Form MNP-MN. The tax commissioner has prescribed two versions of the form: one for tax preparers and the other for taxpayers.