2006 Ohio Revised Code - 5751.09. Assessments; sampling of gross receipts; secretary of state as statutory agent.

§ 5751.09. Assessments; sampling of gross receipts; secretary of state as statutory agent.
 

(A)  The tax commissioner may make an assessment, based on any information in the commissioner's possession, against any person that fails to file a return or pay any tax as required by this chapter. The commissioner shall give the person assessed written notice of the assessment as provided in section 5703.37 of the Revised Code. With the notice, the commissioner shall provide instructions on the manner in which to petition for reassessment and request a hearing with respect to the petition. 

(B)  Unless the person assessed, within sixty days after service of the notice of assessment, files with the tax commissioner, either personally or by certified mail, a written petition signed by the person or the person's authorized agent having knowledge of the facts, the assessment becomes final, and the amount of the assessment is due and payable from the person assessed to the treasurer of state. The petition shall indicate the objections of the person assessed, but additional objections may be raised in writing if received by the commissioner prior to the date shown on the final determination. 
 

If a petition for reassessment has been properly filed, the commissioner shall proceed under section 5703.60 of the Revised Code. 

(C) (1)  After an assessment becomes final, if any portion of the assessment, including accrued interest, remains unpaid, a certified copy of the tax commissioner's entry making the assessment final may be filed in the office of the clerk of the court of common pleas in the county in which the person resides or has its principal place of business in this state, or in the office of the clerk of court of common pleas of Franklin county. 

(2) Immediately upon the filing of the entry, the clerk shall enter judgment for the state against the person assessed in the amount shown on the entry. The judgment may be filed by the clerk in a loose-leaf book entitled, "special judgments for the commercial activity tax" and shall have the same effect as other judgments. Execution shall issue upon the judgment at the request of the tax commissioner, and all laws applicable to sales on execution shall apply to sales made under the judgment. 

(3) The portion of the assessment not paid within sixty days after the day the assessment was issued shall bear interest at the rate per annum prescribed by section 5703.47 of the Revised Code from the day the tax commissioner issues the assessment until it is paid. Interest shall be paid in the same manner as the tax and may be collected by the issuance of an assessment under this section. 

(D)  If the tax commissioner believes that collection of the tax will be jeopardized unless proceedings to collect or secure collection of the tax are instituted without delay, the commissioner may issue a jeopardy assessment against the person liable for the tax. Immediately upon the issuance of the jeopardy assessment, the commissioner shall file an entry with the clerk of the court of common pleas in the manner prescribed by division (C) of this section. Notice of the jeopardy assessment shall be served on the person assessed or the person's authorized agent in the manner provided in section 5703.37 of the Revised Code within five days of the filing of the entry with the clerk. The total amount assessed is immediately due and payable, unless the person assessed files a petition for reassessment in accordance with division (B) of this section and provides security in a form satisfactory to the commissioner and in an amount sufficient to satisfy the unpaid balance of the assessment. Full or partial payment of the assessment does not prejudice the commissioner's consideration of the petition for reassessment. 

(E)  The tax commissioner shall immediately forward to the treasurer of state all amounts the commissioner receives under this section, and such amounts shall be considered as revenue arising from the tax imposed under this chapter. 

(F)  Except as otherwise provided in this division, no assessment shall be made or issued against a taxpayer for the tax imposed under this chapter more than four years after the due date for the filing of the return for the tax period for which the tax was reported, or more than four years after the return for the tax period was filed, whichever is later. Nothing in this division bars an assessment against a taxpayer that fails to file a return required by this chapter or that files a fraudulent return. 

(G)  If the tax commissioner possesses information that indicates that the amount of tax a taxpayer is required to pay under this chapter exceeds the amount the taxpayer paid, the tax commissioner may audit a sample of the taxpayer's gross receipts over a representative period of time to ascertain the amount of tax due, and may issue an assessment based on the audit. The tax commissioner shall make a good faith effort to reach agreement with the taxpayer in selecting a representative sample. The tax commissioner may apply a sampling method only if the commissioner has prescribed the method by rule. 

(H)  If the whereabouts of a person subject to this chapter is not known to the tax commissioner, the secretary of state is hereby deemed to be that person's agent for purposes of service of process of notice of any assessment, action, or proceedings instituted in this state against the person under this chapter. Such process or notice shall be served on such person by the commissioner or by one of the commissioner's agents by leaving at the office of the secretary of state, at least fifteen days before the return day of such process or notice, a true and attested copy of the notice, and by sending to such person by ordinary mail, with an endorsement thereon of the service upon the secretary of state, addressed to such person at the person's last known address. 
 

HISTORY: 151 v H 66, § 101.01, eff. 6-30-05.
 

Not analogous to former RC § 5751.09 (137 v H 415, § 7), repealed 139 v H 694, § 2, eff 11-15-81.

The effective date is set by § 612.21 of 151 v H 66.