Ohio Revised Code
Chapter 5735 | Motor Fuel Tax
Section 5735.12 | Liability for Additional Charge or Assessment for Noncompliance.

Effective: September 17, 2014
Latest Legislation: House Bill 492 - 130th General Assembly
(A) Any person required by this chapter to file reports or pay the tax levied by this chapter who fails to do so within the time prescribed may be liable for an additional charge not exceeding the greater of ten per cent of the person's tax liability for that month or fifty dollars. The tax commissioner may remit all or a portion of the additional charge and may adopt rules relating to the remission of all or a portion of the charge.
If any person required by this chapter to file reports or pay the taxes, interest, or additional charge levied by this chapter fails to file the report, files an incomplete or incorrect report, or fails to remit the full amount of the tax, interest, or additional charge due for the period covered by the report, the commissioner may make an assessment against the person based upon any information in the commissioner's possession.
No assessment shall be made against any motor fuel dealer for taxes imposed by this chapter more than four years after the date on which the report on which the assessment was based was due or was filed, whichever is later. This section does not bar an assessment against any motor fuel dealer who fails to file a report required by section 5735.06 of the Revised Code, or who files a fraudulent motor fuel tax report.
A penalty of up to fifteen per cent may be added to the amount of every assessment made under this section. The commissioner may adopt rules providing for the imposition and remission of penalties added to assessments made under this section.
The commissioner shall give the party assessed written notice of the assessment in the manner provided in section 5703.37 of the Revised Code. With the notice, the commissioner shall provide instructions on how to petition for reassessment and request a hearing on the petition.
(B) Unless the party assessed files with the tax commissioner within sixty days after service of the notice of assessment, either personally or by certified mail, a written petition for reassessment in writing, signed by the party assessed or that party's authorized agent having knowledge of the facts, the assessment becomes final and the amount of the assessment is due and payable from the party assessed to the treasurer of state. The petition shall indicate the objections of the party assessed, but additional objections may be raised in writing if received by the commissioner prior to the date shown on the final determination. If the petition has been properly filed, the commissioner shall proceed under section 5703.60 of the Revised Code.
(C) After an assessment becomes final, if any portion of the assessment remains unpaid, including accrued interest, 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 party assessed resides or in which the business of the party assessed is conducted. If the party assessed maintains no place of business in this state and is not a resident of this state, the certified copy of the entry may be filed in the office of the clerk of the court of common pleas of Franklin county.
Immediately upon the filing of the entry, the clerk shall enter a judgment for the state against the party 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 state motor fuel tax," and shall have the same effect as other judgments. Execution shall issue upon the judgment upon the request of the tax commissioner, and all laws applicable to sales on execution shall apply to sales made under the judgment.
If the assessment is not paid in its entirety within sixty days after the day the assessment was issued, the portion of the assessment consisting of tax due shall bear interest at the rate per annum prescribed by section 5703.47 of the Revised Code from the day the commissioner issues the assessment until it is paid or until it is certified to the attorney general for collection under section 131.02 of the Revised Code, whichever comes first. If the unpaid portion of the assessment is certified to the attorney general for collection, the entire unpaid portion of the assessment shall bear interest at the rate per annum prescribed by section 5703.47 of the Revised Code from the date of certification until the date it is paid in its entirety. 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) All money collected by the tax commissioner under this section shall be paid to the treasurer of state, and when paid shall be considered as revenue arising from the tax imposed by this chapter.
(E) If the tax commissioner determines that the commissioner has erroneously refunded motor fuel tax to any person, the commissioner may make an assessment against the person for recovery of the erroneously refunded tax.

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