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OSCPA Town Hall talks tax cuts, solving talent crisis profession
Written on Jun 16, 2023
By Jessica Salerno-Shumaker, OSCPA senior content manager
At a recent OSCPA Town Hall attendees heard House Bill 33 Ohio budget details, a look into steps OSCPA is taking to solve the talent crisis and much more.
“We realize that a strong Ohio economy is going to be built statewide,” said Scott Wiley, CAE, OSCPA President & CEO. “And it's certainly going to be local as well. We need to think about how we can best position our state for economic success, and also create opportunity for all who live here, work here and bring a family here.”
State Rep. Bill Roemer, CPA (R-Richfield) who joined the Town Hall said the Ohio House has reduced the tax rates to 2.75%, and the Senate has in its budget two brackets: 2.75% and 3.5%.
“The Senate says that they had $3.1 billion in tax cuts and various tax cuts in the budget overall. So, there will definitely be a personal income tax cut,” Roemer said.
Roemer said thanks to the efforts of Greg Saul, Esq. CAE, OSCPA’s director of tax policy and OSCPA’s advocacy team the commercial activity tax (CAT) changes were improved from the Senate’s original proposal of a 25% across-the-board rate cut. Instead, there will be no CAT liability for any business with gross receipts of $3 million or less in 2024, then it will be gross receipts of $6 million or less exempted in 2025.
“What that does is that says that an estimated 90% of the businesses in Ohio will not be paying any CAT,” Roemer said. “The CAT is paid in part based upon very large out-of-state businesses, rather than give an across-the-board cut that might not benefit a business earning $4 or $5 million, we thought it would be great to benefit those smaller businesses where a lot of jobs are created, and still give a smaller cut to everybody else.”
“This is clearly an indication that there is every effort going into making our state more attractive for business,” said Wiley. “And certainly recognizes the vital impact small business has on our economy.”
H.B. 33 passed Thursday in the Senate where it now likely heads to conference committee and then to Governor DeWine’s desk prior to its July 1st deadline.
Also discussed during the Town Hall were the growing talent crisis in the profession and the proactive steps OSCPA is taking to help solve it.
“Over the past fiscal year, we were able to develop a workforce development strategy that leveraged our key strengths and engaged you as stakeholders in addressing accounting's talent crisis,” Wiley said. We continue to map out the current landscape of providers involved in recruiting and training talent, built relationships with numerous organizations, and expanded and enhanced existing programs.”