Ohio Enacts 2018 Tax Amnesty Program: Act Quickly to Take Advantage

Synopsis

The Ohio Department of Taxation (ODT) recently announced that the state will offer an amnesty program starting January 1, 2018 and ending February 15, 2018 (“the Program”).

Qualifying Taxes

The Program covers: 

• Individual income tax 
• School district income tax
• Employer withholding tax
• Employer withholding for school district income tax
• Pass-through entity tax
• Sales tax
• Use tax
• Commercial activity tax
• Financial institutions tax
• Cigarette and other tobacco products taxes
• Alcoholic beverage taxes

Qualifying Taxpayers

Amnesty will only be available to businesses and individuals with a tax liability that is unknown to the ODT (i.e., no taxes that have been previously assessed by the ODT, or have been already discovered via audit, etc., by the ODT).  The Program applies only to tax liabilities that were due and payable prior to May 1, 2017.

Accordingly, businesses and individuals: 1) who have not filed taxes that were required to be filed with Ohio, and/or 2) who filed the required Ohio taxes, but, for whatever reason, understated the amount of taxes due, are eligible to participate in the Program, provided they meet the above requirements.  

Amnesty Benefits

The benefit of participating in the Program include, for eligible taxpayers who fully pay any qualifying Ohio tax delinquency(s) during the six-week amnesty period, the waiver of all penalties and 50% of the interest that would normally be due.

What Does CohnReznick Think?

Taxpayers who are interested in this program need to act quickly.  While the end of the Program is approximately three months away, Thanksgiving and the holidays fall during the period when taxpayers must compute their potential tax exposure and prepare the necessary returns required by the program. 

_{Any advice contained in this communication, including attachments and enclosures, is not intended as a thorough, in-depth analysis of specific issues. Nor is it sufficient to avoid tax-related penalties. This has been prepared for information purposes and general guidance only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. You should not act upon the information contained in this publication without obtaining specific professional advice specific to, among other things, your individual facts, circumstances and jurisdiction. No representation or warranty (express or implied) is made as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this publication, and CohnReznick LLP, its partners, employees and agents accept no liability, and disclaim all responsibility, for the consequences of you or anyone else acting, or refraining to act, in reliance on the information contained in this publication or for any decision based on it.}