OMA Leads Coalition to Stop CAT Erosion in House Committee

This week OMA led a coalition of business organizations to again defend the Ohio Commercial Activity Tax (CAT). Since 2005, the OMA and like-minded organizations have continually reinforced to lawmakers the importance of keeping the CAT’s competitive attributes: broad-base and low rate.

On Tuesday, May 19, in the House Ways and Means Committee the OMA and others provided interested party testimony on Senate Bill 95 to communicate that “the CAT was created to fix an archaic business taxing system in Ohio that was riddled with exemptions and credits. The old system failed to promote sound tax policy by eroding the tax base and piling disproportionate payments on certain industries.”

The coalition is advocating for the committee remove the CAT credit provisions from Senate Bill 95 in order to protect the tax’s base and rate. Senate Bill 95 authorizes tax incentives for the operators and certain suppliers of a “mega-project” — such as a development project with at least $1 billion in investment or that creates at least $75 million in Ohio payroll. One of the tax incentives is a CAT exclusion for gross receipts of a mega-project supplier from sales to a mega-project operator. 5/21/2020