(a) Except as prohibited by Ohio Revised Code 718.03, each employer within or doing business within the City who employs one or more persons on a salary, wage, commission or other compensation basis shall deduct at the time of the payment of such salary, wage, commission or other compensation, provided such salary, wage, commission, or other compensation are qualifying wages, the tax at the rate specified in Section 195.01 on the gross salary, wage, commission or other compensation due by the employer to such employee and shall on or before the last day specified below make a return and pay the Commissioner of Taxation the amount of tax so deducted.
(1) The term "banking day", for purposes of this section, means that part of any day on which a bank is open to the public for carrying on substantially all of its banking functions;
(2) "Month" means a calendar month;
(3) "Partial monthly withholding period" means the period ending on the third, seventh, eleventh, fifteenth, nineteenth, twenty-second, twenty-fifth, or last day of a month, as the context requires;
(4) "Undeposited taxes" means the taxes an employer is required to deduct and withhold from an employee's compensation pursuant to this chapter that have not been remitted to the Tax Commissioner pursuant to this section.
(5) Every employer required to deduct and withhold any amount under this chapter shall file a return and shall pay the amount required by law as follows:
A. If, at the end of each calendar quarter, undeposited taxes total one thousand dollars ($1,000) or less, payment of the undeposited taxes for that calendar quarter shall be made no later than thirty days following the last day of March, June, September, and December of each year;
B. If subsection (a)(5)A. hereof does not apply, payment of undeposited taxes for each month shall be made no later than ten banking days following the close of the month during which the undeposited taxes were withheld;
C. If, for any partial monthly withholding period, undeposited taxes total more than fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000), payment of the undeposited taxes shall be made within three banking days following the end of the partial monthly withholding period during which the fifteen thousand dollar ($15,000) limitation was exceeded. Every employer required to deduct and withhold any amount under this chapter shall make payment by electronic funds transfer pursuant to subsection 195.06(e) and (f). Nothing in this subsection (5)C. shall be construed as relieving an employer from complying with subsection (a)(5)B. hereof.
Ord. 95-152. Passed 5-2-95.)
(6) The requirements of subsection (a)(5) hereof are met if the amount paid is not less than ninety-five percent (95%) of the actual tax withheld for the prior quarterly, or monthly, or partial monthly withholding period, and the underpayment is not due to willful neglect. Any underpayment of withheld tax shall be paid by the last day prescribed for the next regular payment for a monthly or quarterly withholding period or within thirty days of the date on which the withheld tax was due for a partial monthly withholding period.
(7) If the Tax Commissioner believes that quarterly or monthly payments would result in a delay that might jeopardize the collection of withholding payments, he may order that the payments be made weekly, or more frequently if necessary, and the payments shall be made no later than three banking days following the close of the period for which the jeopardy payment order is made. An order requiring weekly or more frequent payments shall be delivered to the employer personally or by certified mail and remains in effect until the Tax Commissioner notifies the employer to the contrary.
(8) In addition to the returns required to be filed and payments required to be made under subsection (a)(5) hereof, every employer required to deduct and withhold taxes shall file, not later than the twenty-eighth day of February of each year, an annual return covering the aggregate amount deducted and withheld during the entire preceding year for the tax imposed under this chapter. At the time of filing that return, the employer shall pay over any amount deducted and withheld during the preceding year and not previously paid. The employer shall make the annual report, to each employee and to the Tax Commissioner, of the compensation paid and each tax withheld, as the Tax Commissioner by rule shall prescribe.
(9) Each employer required to deduct and withhold any tax is liable for the payment of that amount required to be deducted and withheld.
(Ord. 89-675. Passed 12-19-89.)
(b) Such employer in collecting such tax shall be deemed to hold the same until payment is made by such employer to the City as a trustee for the benefit of the City and any such tax collected by such employer from his employee shall, until the same is paid to the City, be deemed a trust fund in the hands of such employer.
(c) Provided, however, that no person shall be required to withhold the tax on the wages or other compensation paid domestic servants employed exclusively in or about such person's residence, but such servants shall be subject to the provisions of Section 195.05.
(d) The officer or employee having control or supervision of or charged with the responsibility of filing the return and making payment is personally liable for failure to file the return or pay the tax due as required by this section. The officer or employee shall be personally liable for the tax he failed to return or pay as well as any related interest and penalties. The dissolution of a corporation does not discharge an officer's or employee's liability for a prior failure of the corporation to file returns or pay tax due.
(e) Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, the payment of taxes by electronic funds transfer does not affect an employer's obligation to file the returns as required under this Section 195.06. The Director of Finance may adopt rules governing the format for filing the returns under this Section 195.06 by employers who remit undeposited taxes by electronic funds transfer. The rules may permit the filing of returns at less frequent intervals than required by subsection 195.06(a)(5) if the Director of Finance determines that remittance by electronic funds transfer warrants less frequent filing of returns. Taxpayers shall be permitted to make filings and remit tax payments using the Ohio business gateway, and the Director of Finance shall adopt no rule which conflicts with those rules adopted by the Tax Commissioner for the State of Ohio governing use of the Ohio business gateway.
(f) The Director of Finance shall adopt rules governing the remittance of taxes by electronic funds transfer as required under this Chapter. The rules shall govern the modes of electronic funds transfer and under what circumstances each mode is acceptable, the content and format of electronic funds transfers, the coordination of payment by electronic funds transfer and filing of associated tax reports and returns, and any other matter that in the opinion of the Director of Finance facilitates payment by electronic funds transfer. The Director of Finance may grant an exemption to an employer from the duty to make payment by electronic funds transfer, upon application, for such exemption by the employer and the employer's demonstration to the Director of Finance that the requirement to make payment by electronic fund transfer will impose a substantial hardship upon the employer. The Director of Finance may implement means of acknowledging, upon the request of a taxpayer, receipt of tax remittances made by electronic funds transfer, and may adopt rules governing acknowledgments. The cost of acknowledging receipt of electronic remittances shall be paid by the person requesting acknowledgment.
(Ord. 03-381. Passed 11-25-03.)