Ohio Code 5741.13 – Assessment for failure to make return or pay tax
(A) Except as provided in division (B) of this section:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 5741.13
- Consumer: means any person who has purchased tangible personal property or has been provided a service for storage, use, or other consumption or benefit in this state. See Ohio Code 5741.01
- Marketplace facilitator: means a person that owns, operates, or controls a physical or electronic marketplace through which retail sales are facilitated on behalf of one or more marketplace sellers, or an affiliate of such a person. See Ohio Code 5741.01
- Marketplace seller: means a person on behalf of which a marketplace facilitator facilitates the sale of tangible personal property for storage, use, or consumption in this state or services the benefit of which are realized in this state, regardless of whether or not the person has a substantial nexus with this state. See Ohio Code 5741.01
- Person: includes individuals, receivers, assignees, trustees in bankruptcy, estates, firms, partnerships, associations, joint-stock companies, joint ventures, clubs, societies, corporations, business trusts, governments, and combinations of individuals of any form. See Ohio Code 5741.01
- Seller: means the person from whom a purchase is made, and includes every person engaged in this state or elsewhere in the business of selling tangible personal property or providing a service for storage, use, or other consumption or benefit in this state; and when, in the opinion of the tax commissioner, it is necessary for the efficient administration of this chapter, to regard any salesperson, representative, peddler, or canvasser as the agent of a dealer, distributor, supervisor, or employer under whom the person operates, or from whom the person obtains tangible personal property, sold by the person for storage, use, or other consumption in this state, irrespective of whether or not the person is making such sales on the person's own behalf, or on behalf of such dealer, distributor, supervisor, or employer, the commissioner may regard the person as such agent, and may regard such dealer, distributor, supervisor, or employer as the seller. See Ohio Code 5741.01
(1) If any person required by section 5741.12 of the Revised Code to make a return to the tax commissioner fails to make such return at the time required by or under authority of such section, the commissioner may make an assessment against such person, based upon any information within the commissioner’s possession. The commissioner shall give to such person written notice of the assessment as provided in section 5703.37 of the Revised Code.
(2) If information in the possession of the commissioner indicates that the tax paid by any consumer is less than that due, the commissioner may audit a representative sample of that consumer’s purchases and may issue an assessment based thereon. The commissioner shall make a good faith effort to reach agreement with the consumer on selecting a representative sample.
(3) If information in the possession of the commissioner indicates that the amount required to be collected or paid under this chapter is greater than the amount remitted by the seller, the commissioner may audit a representative sample of the seller’s sales to determine the per cent of exempt or taxable transactions or the effective tax rate and may issue an assessment based on the audit. The commissioner shall make a good faith effort to reach agreement with the seller in selecting a representative sample.
(B) The commissioner may audit only the marketplace facilitator for sales with respect to which the marketplace facilitator is treated as the seller pursuant to division (E) of section 5741.01 of the Revised Code and may not audit the marketplace seller on behalf of which the sale was facilitated. This division does not absolve a marketplace seller or the purchaser from personal liability under division (B) of section 5741.11 of the Revised Code for taxes that are not properly collected, paid, or remitted due to the inability of the marketplace facilitator to obtain accurate information about the sale from the marketplace seller.