Although the government shutdown last year delayed some issues in Washington, we cannot postpone the filing of taxes for 2013. The deadline is still April 15 whether you are filing your taxes or want to file an extension. The good news for Ohio small business owners is the changes in legislature last year that will give them a tax break for 2014 and for Ohio residents, an increase in jobs announced by Whirlpool Corp. for the next year onward.
Ohio small businesses want online stores to charge sales tax, too
CLEVELAND, Ohio — John Shulan is tired of hearing arguments that requiring buyers to pay sales tax on online purchases is unfair or too complicated. Shulan, president of Shulan’s Fairlawn Jewelers, is one of more than 1,000 small-business owners who have signed a petition urging Congress to require out-of-state sellers to collect the same state and local sales taxes they charge their customers.
“It’s not a new tax; it’s not a tax increase. It’s closing a blatant and growing tax loophole,” Shulan said. “We’re subsidizing Internet businesses by not requiring them to pay sales tax.”
The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider online sales tax proposals, — including the Marketplace Fairness Act the Senate passed last year — at a hearing Wednesday morning in Washington, D.C. Both Ohio senators voted for the MFA.
Shulan and other Ohio businesses say they hope this is the year that Congress updates outdated tax laws that now favor online-only retailers such as Amazon.com and eBay. Current laws do not require retailers who don’t have a store, warehouse or other physical presence in Ohio to collect and remit sales taxes, giving consumers the impression that such purchases are “tax-free.” Although state law requires consumers to keep track of and pay taxes on what they buy online, few people actually do.
Whirlpool To Invest $40M, Add 400 Jobs In Ohio
Appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. is planning on making a major announcement later today for its plant in Greenville, Ohio, according to Dave Elliott, general manager of Whirlpool’s KitchenAid small appliances business, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. Employment at the plant is expected to rise from 1,000 to 1,400 by 2018.
The plant currently makes KitchenAid mixers and other small kitchen appliances, and Elliott said the investment is in response to more demand for those types of high-end cooking gadgets. The company’s chief executive, Jeff Fettig, said that growth of small appliances has grown 10 to 15 percent annual in recent years, and that the Greenville plant has simply run out of capacity.
Whirlpool is expected to hold a press conference later today to announce the news, with Greenville Mayor Mike Bowers and Ken Hossler, plant leader, on hand to celebrate the investment. Gov. John Kasich was expected to attend as well.
The company has a complicated history with U.S. manufacturing. In 2009, the company shuttered its Evansville, Ind. plant and cut 1,100 employees to move production of refrigerators with freezers on top to a location in Mexico, where they were cheaper to produce. The move shocked and disappointed many, who felt as if buying a Whirlpool appliance was a safe bet in ensuring they were buying a “Made in America” product. And in 2011, the company announced the cut of 1,200 salaried positions, and the closure, of its Fort Smith, Ark., plant.
Kasich cabinet touts tax cut, other business-friendly changes
While Gov. John Kasich signed the small-business tax cut into law in June, it is affecting people now, Ohio Tax Commissioner Joe Testa said Monday.
With tax season in full swing, small-business owners are seeing results in their pocketbooks of a 50 percent tax cut on the first $250,000 of Ohio net business income. That means if a small business owner earns $100,000 in net income, he is taxed only on $50,000
Testa and other representatives of state agencies spoke at a “Cutting Taxes and Growing Ohio Small Business” event Monday at Veterans Memorial Civic Center. The session was held jointly with Lima Rotary Club and Lima/Allen County Chamber of Commerce. Cabinet level directors are traveling the state talking about the small-business tax cut and other policies and programs to help small businesses.
The tax cut is helpful, Testa said, because most small-business owners report their business income through their personal income tax. In addition to the small business cut, the state is also cutting individual income tax 10 percent for all income tax payers.
