Article written by:
Anthony Ott, CPA
Director, State & Local Tax Services
On March 27, 2020, Governor Mike DeWine signed House Bill 197 into law. The legislation, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, contained a variety of provisions allowing the state to effectively operate during this crisis. Ohio Tax Commissioner Jeff McClain has provided further clarification through four Administrative Journal Entries. Additional guidance reiterating the changes in the bill and exercising authority to allow extensions for a limited number of other tax-related filings can be found on the Ohio Department of Taxation website. Several Ohio cities have also issued guidance. Following is a summary of the key points:
- Filing and payment deadlines were extended to July 15, 2020, for Ohio state personal income tax, school district income tax, pass-through entity tax (IT 1140 and IT 4708), fiduciary income tax, central collection municipal net profit tax, and all Ohio municipal individual income tax returns. The city individual tax deadline was an automatic change with the state income tax deadline;
- Waiver of interest and penalties associated with payments that are subject to the extended deadlines;
- Individuals, estates, trusts and certain businesses making quarterly estimated income tax payments have also been granted additional time to file and pay without penalty or interest. The first and second quarterly payments, normally scheduled for April 15, 2020 and June 15, 2020 for most taxpayers, have both been extended to July 15, 2020;
- Many Ohio cities have also announced that they will be extending the filing and payment deadline for municipal net profit tax returns and estimates to July 15, 2020. Cities that have released guidance and will follow the July 15, 2020, deadline include RITA, CCA, Columbus, Dublin and Cincinnati. Cities that have not opted in for the state-administered municipal net profit tax should be reviewed individually for additional guidance;
- While the Tax Commissioner has the authority to extend deadlines for other tax filings, he is NOT exercising this ability to extend deadlines for CAT, sales and use, FIT, excise taxes or employer withholding at this time. Governor Mike DeWine’s veto message for House Bill 197 states collection and remittance of these taxes are imperative to fund essential government services during the COVID-19 crisis;
- Refund claims and petitions for reassessment due between March 9, 2020, to the end of the Governor’s COVID-19 declaration (or July 30, 2020, whichever is earlier) may be filed on or before July 30, 2020. Additionally, petitions for reassessment may be filed on-line at FileanAppeal@tax.state.oh.us;
- Current licenses issued by the Department of Taxation remain valid and are not required to be renewed until the earlier of ninety (90) days after the emergency ends or December 1, 2020.
If there are additional comments or guidance from the Tax Commissioner, GBQ will provide updates as warranted. Please contact your GBQ representative if you have questions, or if you would like to discuss any of this information in further detail.