WOSU News » taxes

Activists’ Report Links Budget Struggles To Tax Havens

Bill Cohen — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 11:16:37 +0000

As Ohio legislators try to hammer out a new two-year state budget, an activist group on the political left says one reason there’s a shortage of money is people and companies are dodging their taxes. Click the play button above to hear more details from Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen.

Ohio Treasurer Mandel Thinks Tax Hike Will Scare Industry Away

Julie Carr Smyth — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 18:29:58 +0000

A fellow Republican state official has come out against Gov. John Kasich’s proposed tax increase on drillers.

Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel tells a meeting of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association he believes the governor’s proposal to increase the severance tax stands to scare away Ohio oil and gas investment at a critical time.

Mandel’s remarks Thursday mark the second time in under a month he has bucked the governor on a major policy issue.

In February, Mandel sent a letter to state legislators urging them to reject Kasich’s proposal to expand Medicaid under the federal health care law. He argued the plan’s long-term harm outweighed its short-term benefits.

Both the tax increase and the Medicaid expansion are part of Kasich’s two-year state budget.

Budget Director: Don’t Expect Changes To Sales Tax Plan

Steve Brown — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:57:33 +0000

The head of Ohio’s Office of Budget and Management says he does not expect GOP state lawmakers to pare down the list of business services that could be subject to sales tax for the first time.

Governor Kasich wants to cut the state income tax and business taxes, and apply sales tax to many previously-exempt services.

“With the exception of a few exemptions…all services will be subject to taxation. So it’s not an enumerated list,” Tim Keen said on All Sides with Ann Fisher Wednesday morning.

Keen said many of the businesses in those sectors already pay some form of sales tax.

“If you’re a barber shop and they sell any hair care products, they’re collecting the sales tax now. The same with a beauty salon. So a lot of these service providers are already collecting the sales tax for the goods that they sell.”

The plan is billed as a more than billion dollar tax cut, while the liberal think tank Policy Matters Ohio says the plan will be a tax increase for many Ohioans, especially the poor.

Sales Tax On Ohio Lawyers, CPAs Not Easy To Impose

Julie Carr Smyth — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 19:41:56 +0000

Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s plan to tax lawyers, lobbyists and accountants is fraught with potential potholes.

That includes hurdles to implementation, hidden business impacts, and almost guaranteed political opposition from targets of the tax. On the day his budget was unveiled, Kasich conceded that lobbyists – experts on legislative negotiating – would probably try to get the tax on their industry pulled out of Ohio’s budget bill.

Similar proposals failed in Michigan and Florida in part because big law and accounting firms often do business across state and international lines, making it a difficult tax to calculate and impose.

Professional organizations for Ohio lawyers and accountants have so far held off judgment. They say they are hearing concerns but still evaluating the Republican governor’s complete budget package.

State Budget Proposal Would Halt County Sales Tax Increase

Marilyn Smith — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 18:45:47 +0000

Governor Kasich’s proposed two-year state budget would restore $28 million dollars to the local government fund, but prevent local governments from raising sales taxes.

According to Gary Gudmundson of the Ohio Department of Taxation, over the next three years Franklin County would receive a 10 percent bump in revenue during the first 19 months and another 5 percent during the remaining period.

Anything above that rate would be kept by the county. Revenues from the state sales tax would be used to offset a 20 percent cut in the personal income tax and a 50 percent cut in the taxes small businesses pay, Gudmundson said. The Columbus Dispatch reported last week Franklin County Commissioners had been considering a sales tax increase.

Gudmundson said Ohio counties would see revenues rise because the sales tax would be applied to business services that are not currently subject to taxation such as accounting, legal and architectural services. The state sales tax would drop from 5.5 to 5 percent under Kasich’s proposed spending plan.

The governor’s spending blueprint is scheduled to go before the legislature next week.

Correction: The original version of this story erroneously reported the state would keep any revenues above ten percent generated by counties’ sales tax.

Sales Tax Could Apply To Haircuts, Sports Tickets, And More

Bill Cohen — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 12:34:18 +0000

Governor John Kasich is pushing a $1.4 billion net tax cut for Ohioans over the next three years, a move he says would attract more companies and their jobs. It would come in the form of a huge cut in the graduated state income tax.

But, at the same time, a reduced five percent state sales tax would be applied to many services that are now un-taxed. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports on who would pay more for that. Click the play button above to hear his full report.

Small Airports Wary Of Proposed User Fee

Steve Brown — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 10:00:52 +0000

In the proposed budget for the Federal Aviation Administration next year, the Obama administration is asking for a $100 per-flight user fee on nearly every commercial flight in controlled airspace. It’s been denounced by the airline industry, but the proposal is especially concerning for pilots and operators at small regional airports.

“This is a 1972 Bellanca Super Viking,” says Ed Rusch, the manager of the Union County Airport in Marysville, as he walks through the airport hanger.

“All of the gadgetry that you see on the panel there — all the knobs and buttons and such — it makes this airplane capable to operate within the Air Traffic Control system,” Rusch says.

And that means it will be subject to the new fee. Rusch says $100 per-flight will add up quickly for planes like the Bellanca that are used regularly.

Well, if you consider they go once a week. They have to go out and they have to come back, so that’s $10,400 a year. If they operate in the system.

If they operate in the system, Rusch says, because the new fee could push pilots to skirt the law.

The FAA permits flights without notice during good weather conditions, but requires pilots to report takeoffs and landings when conditions worsen.

“If you are forced in inclement weather to file a flight plan and work with the FAA in the Air Traffic Control system and it costs you an extra $100, there are going to be a lot of people who aren’t going to do that. They’re just going to take off.”

The FAA and the White House did not respond to repeated requests for comment, but the budget proposal says the fee is intended to better distribute the cost of air traffic services. The agency says it’s essential for those who benefit from our world-class aviation system help pay for it.

Selana Shilad is Executive Director of the Alliance for Aviation Across America, a trade group that represents smaller airport like Union County. They oppose the fee because she says airports and companies that drive the industry already pay more than their fair share.

“It would be very detrimental to them, particularly during an economic downturn, in terms of the extra tax burden, but also because of the additional administrative burden that it would levy open them.”

Shilad says the fee would apply to more than just small commercial aviation, but even smaller businesses like some crop dusters and surveying businesses.

It would apply to flight schools, businesses, and a lot of different operators, including some who do medical transport, as well.

Shilad says her group is watching for possible talks of the fees during the current tax and spending negotiations in Washington. 28 Senators sent a letter to the White House earlier this year to officially oppose the fee.

Some Ohio Businesses Get Surprise Tax Return

Bill Cohen — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 16:46:38 +0000

Ohio tax officials are starting to return more than $13 million to more than 3,000 Ohio companies that unknowingly overpaid their commercial activity tax.

Gov. John Kasich says that’s a reversal of earlier policies at the Ohio Department of Taxation, which knew about cases of over-payments but never informed the businesses.

“That’s just a rip-off,” Kasich said. “There’s no other way to describe it but a governmental rip-off.”

The governor says this policy change symbolizes what he calls a more jobs-friendly climate in Ohio.

He says many of the companies receiving surprise refunds are small businesses that might be able to use the bonanza to help hire new workers.

Groveport Madison Levy Passes; Other Districts Not As Lucky

WOSU News Staff — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 12:01:28 +0000

The only measure on yesterday’s Franklin county ballot passed with more than 70 percent of the vote.

The tax levy for Groveport Madison Schools will replace a property tax that expires at the end of year.

The levy means homeowners will continue to pay $287 a year in taxes on a home worth $100,000. District leaders said if the levy had failed, they would have been forced to eliminate 110 jobs and end busing in January.

Other districts around the state didn’t fare as well in Tuesday’s election. Only 10 of 35 levies were approved by local voters. StateImpact Ohio’s Ida Lieszkovszky reports that follows a recent trend of levies failing because of the down economy.

Conservative Group Teaching Voters How To Repeal School Levies

Bill Cohen — Tue, 08 May 2012 11:27:40 +0000

A conservative legal group that’s allied with the Tea Party movement is vowing to help Ohio taxpayers repeal school levies across the state. The 1851 Center for Constitutional Law says some taxpayers are sick and tired of having school districts make repeated requests for voters to okay local tax hikes.

Click the play button above to hear the legal group’s strategy.