OSCPA-boosted law restores Supreme Court appeals of BTA decisions

Written on Sep 14, 2018

Some decisions of the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals may now be appealed directly to the Ohio Supreme Court rather than to a lower court first, thanks to action by The Ohio Society of CPAs.

Last year, House Bill 49 removed the authority to appeal BTA decisions directly to the Ohio Supreme Court, except if the appeal involved a substantial constitutional question or a question of great public interest.

However, an amendment urged by OSCPA in H.B. 292, passed into law in the spring, reverses that change effective Sept. 13..

The direct appeal is now permitted if the decision involves a final determination of the Tax Commissioner or a local board of tax review. Local boards of tax review hear cases pertaining to municipal income taxes. Under prior law, such decisions not on BTA’s small claims docket needed to be appealed to one of Ohio’s 12 district courts of appeals.

For more information on these or any other issues OSCPA is working on, contact the governmental relations team.