Major changes coming to the CAT

Written on Dec 15, 2023

The Ohio Department of Taxation

The Commercial Activity Tax (CAT) will undergo major changes on Jan. 1, 2024, and again on Jan. 1, 2025.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2024:

The CAT annual minimum tax is eliminated.
The annual exclusion amount is increased from $1 million to $3 million for 2024.

Annual filing is eliminated after the 2023 annual return, which is due May 10, 2024.
Taxpayers with taxable gross receipts of $3 million or less per calendar year will no longer be subject to the CAT in 2024.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2025, the annual exclusion amount is increased from $3 million to $6 million for tax periods 2025 and thereafter.

Annual and quarterly CAT taxpayers who anticipate having less than $3 million in taxable gross receipts in tax year 2024, should act now and cancel their CAT account immediately with an effective date of Dec. 31, 2023. Please note, taxpayers must still file their final return for tax year 2023. Quarterly taxpayers’ final return is due Feb. 12, 2024, and annual taxpayers’ final return is due May 10, 2024.

Taxpayers may cancel their account now by visiting the Ohio Business Gateway at gateway.ohio.gov and following the below steps:

Once logged in, select CAT Cancel Account.

Select your reason for cancellation from the drop-down menu to the right. (Your likely response will be Taxable Gross Receipts less than threshold.)

Enter effective date in MM/DD/YYYY format or select a date from the calendar icon, click Next.

*If you are canceling because of the CAT law changes, please select 12/31/2023 as the effective cancellation date.

Review information and click accept.

Once completed, a pdf confirmation is available and maintained in the taxpayer’s history.

In the alternative, taxpayers may cancel their account when they file their final return by checking a cancellation box on the return. This will close the account with an effective date of Dec. 31, 2023.

For more information, visit Ohio Department of Taxation’s website at tax.ohio.gov/catlawchanges. For assistance, please contact the Business Tax Division at (888) 722-8829 or (800) 750-0750 for persons who use text telephones (TTYs) or adaptive telephone equipment.