Ohio Code 718.84 – Information provided to tax administrators; confidentiality
(A) Any information gained as a result of returns, investigations, hearings, or verifications required or authorized by sections 718.80 to 718.95 of the Revised Code is confidential, and no person shall disclose such information, except for official purposes, in accordance with a proper judicial order, or as provided in section 4123.271 or 5703.21 of the Revised Code. The tax commissioner may furnish the internal revenue service with copies of returns filed. This section does not prohibit the publication of statistics in a form which does not disclose information with respect to particular taxpayers.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 718.84
- Audit: means the examination of a person or the inspection of the books, records, memoranda, or accounts of a person for the purpose of determining liability for a municipal income tax. See Ohio Code 718.01
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Employee: means an individual who is an employee for federal income tax purposes. See Ohio Code 718.01
- Employer: means a person that is an employer for federal income tax purposes. See Ohio Code 718.01
- Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
- Income: means the following:
(1)(a) For residents, all income, salaries, qualifying wages, commissions, and other compensation from whatever source earned or received by the resident, including the resident's distributive share of the net profit of pass-through entities owned directly or indirectly by the resident and any net profit of the resident, except as provided in division (D)(5) of this section. See Ohio Code 718.01
- Municipal corporation: includes a joint economic development district or joint economic development zone that levies an income tax under section 715. See Ohio Code 718.01
- Municipal taxable income: means the following:
(a) For a person other than an individual, income apportioned or sitused to the municipal corporation under section 718. See Ohio Code 718.01
- Net operating loss: means a loss incurred by a person in the operation of a trade or business. See Ohio Code 718.01
- Person: includes individuals, firms, companies, joint stock companies, business trusts, estates, trusts, partnerships, limited liability partnerships, limited liability companies, associations, C corporations, S corporations, governmental entities, and any other entity. See Ohio Code 718.01
- Tax administrator: means , subject to division (U)(2) of this section, the individual charged with direct responsibility for administration of an income tax levied by a municipal corporation in accordance with this chapter, and also includes the following:
(a) A municipal corporation acting as the agent of another municipal corporation;
(b) A person retained by a municipal corporation to administer a tax levied by the municipal corporation, but only if the municipal corporation does not compensate the person in whole or in part on a contingency basis;
(c) The central collection agency or the regional income tax agency or their successors in interest, or another entity organized to perform functions similar to those performed by the central collection agency and the regional income tax agency. See Ohio Code 718.01
- Tax commissioner: means the tax commissioner appointed under section 121. See Ohio Code 718.01
- Taxable year: means the corresponding tax reporting period as prescribed for the taxpayer under the Internal Revenue Code. See Ohio Code 718.01
- Taxpayer: means a person subject to a tax levied on income by a municipal corporation in accordance with this chapter. See Ohio Code 718.01
- Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
(B) In May and November of each year, the tax commissioner shall provide each tax administrator with the following information for every taxpayer that filed tax returns with the commissioner under sections 718.80 to 718.95 of the Revised Code and that had municipal taxable income apportionable to the municipal corporation under this chapter for any prior year:
(1) The taxpayer’s name, address, and federal employer identification number;
(2) The taxpayer’s apportionment ratio for, and amount of municipal taxable income apportionable to, the municipal corporation pursuant to section 718.82 of the Revised Code;
(3) The amount of any pre-2017 net operating loss carryforward utilized by the taxpayer;
(4) Whether the taxpayer requested that any overpayment be carried forward to a future taxable year;
(5) The amount of any credit claimed under section 718.94 of the Revised Code.
(C) Not later than thirty days after each distribution made to municipal corporations under section 718.83 of the Revised Code, the tax commissioner shall provide to each municipal corporation a report stating the name and federal identification number of every taxpayer that made estimated payments that are attributable to the municipal corporation and the amount of each such taxpayer’s estimated payment.
(D) Not later than the thirty-first day of January of each year, every municipal corporation having taxpayers that have made the election allowed under section 718.80 of the Revised Code shall provide to the tax commissioner, in a format prescribed by the commissioner, the name and mailing address of up to two persons to whom the municipal corporation requests that the commissioner send the information described in divisions (B) and (C) of this section. The commissioner shall not provide such information to any person other than a person who is designated to receive the information under this section and who is employed by the municipal corporation or by a tax administrator, as defined in section 718.01 of the Revised Code, that administers the municipal corporation’s income tax, except as may otherwise be provided by law.
(E)(1) The tax commissioner may adopt rules that further govern the terms and conditions under which tax returns filed with the commissioner under this chapter, and any other information gained in the performance of the commissioner’s duties prescribed by this chapter, shall be available for inspection by properly authorized officers, employees, or agents of the municipal corporations to which the taxpayer’s net profit is apportioned under section 718.82 of the Revised Code.
(2) As used in this division, “properly authorized officer, employee, or agent” means an officer, employee, or agent of a municipal corporation who is authorized by charter or ordinance of the municipal corporation to view or possess information referred to in section 718.13 of the Revised Code.
(F)(1) If, upon receiving the information described in division (B) of section 718.91 of the Revised Code or division (B) or (C) of this section, a municipal corporation discovers that it has additional information in its possession that could result in a change to a taxpayer’s tax liability, the municipal corporation may refer the taxpayer to the tax commissioner for an audit. Such referral shall be made on a form prescribed by the commissioner and shall include any information that forms the basis for the referral.
(2) Upon receipt of a referral under division (F)(1) of this section, the commissioner shall review the referral and may conduct an audit of the taxpayer that is the subject of the referral based on the information in the referral and any other relevant information available to the commissioner.
(3) Nothing in division (F) of this section shall be construed as forming the sole basis upon which the commissioner may conduct an audit of a taxpayer.
(4) Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit a municipal corporation from filing a writ of mandamus if the municipal corporation believes that the commissioner has violated the commissioner’s fiduciary duty as the administrator of the tax levied by the municipal corporation.