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It can be amusing to watch the reaction of lawmakers confronted with a change that would not only make life a little easier for employers, but open the door to businesses being able to reduce their tax burden. According to a report in the Ohio Capital Journal, that is happening in Columbus, as lawmakers consider whether to make an adjustment that would simplify tax filing for employers with remote workers.
In Ohio, municipalities are allowed to levy income taxes on businesses operating within city limits. That presents a challenge with remote workers.
There is a proposal to allow businesses to apply their remote workers to a "qualifying reporting location" as a way to streamline the process.
Rep. Sean Brennan, D-Parma, is among those worried this would "disproportionately decrease (a company's) tax burden." But Greg Saul of the Ohio Society of CPAs explained the idea is to make things easier for employers in a way that is revenue neutral. "If (tax avoidance) was the business' goal, I would think that mechanism is available to them under current law. There's a three-factor formula of how they can choose the remote work location, but the last one is (it) requires the employer to act in good faith when designating a reporting location,"
Brennan and others need to contain the urge to halt something good for businesses because government might collect a little less money.