Tuesday, February 15, 2011

St. Rep. Combs Votes for Tax Relief: HB 58

Release:
COLUMBUS—State Representative Courtney Combs (R-Hamilton) today voted in support of House Bill 58, which passed from the Ohio House of Representatives by a vote of 89-7. The legislation incorporates into Ohio law the “Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010,” which authorized a two-year extension of the “Bush tax cuts” and was signed into federal law on December 17, 2010.

The purpose of House Bill 58 is to update Ohio tax law, which incorporates with the Internal Revenue Code and other federal laws periodically. The way Ohio can stay up to date with federal changes is through amendments like HB 58 being passed by the General Assembly. All but one of the federal amendments that HB 58 would incorporate into Ohio’s tax law relates to exclusions or deductions, which determines the initial number of a taxpayer’s Ohio taxable income.

If these federal amendments are not incorporated into Ohio tax law, a taxpayer would then have to add these exclusions or deductions to their taxable income separately in order to correctly determine their Ohio tax liability beginning in 2011. For 2010, taxpayers who applied the adjustments in computing their federal tax must add these amounts back to compute Ohio taxes because the adjustments were not incorporated.

“State legislators are working feverishly to find relief for Ohio taxpayers”, Combs said. “In this great time of need it is important to work together and focus on providing the most effective government we can for Ohio.”

House Bill 58 is estimated to save Ohio’s taxpayers approximately $48.5 million over the next three fiscal years, which will provide much-needed tax relief to struggling families and businesses. It will now move to the Ohio Senate to undergo further debate and consideration.