The Ohio Board of Tax Appeals has issued a ruling regarding sales tax filing requirements. It clarifies that "if a vendor has no sales to report, it still has an obligation to file a return indicating no taxable sales were made, no tax was collected, and therefore, no tax is due."
The Ohio Tax Commissioner issued a sales tax assessment against an Ohio business that did not file a sales tax report for the period April 16 - June 30, 2011. In its defense, the business claimed that "it was not required to file such a return because it 'does not sell directly to the consumer' and was not required to charge and/or pay sales tax… ." It had, it said, no sales to report.
Pursuant to R.C. 5739.30:
(A) "No person, including any officer, employee, or trustee of a corporation or business trust, shall fail to file any return or report required to be filed by this chapter… ."
In other words, even if a business has no sales to report, it is still required to file a return.
The Ohio Board of Tax Appeals further notes that "there is no evidence in the record to support appellant's claim that … it is exempt from collecting sales tax."
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