Section 5739.121. Bad debt deduction

(A) As used in this section, "bad debt" means any debt that has become worthless or uncollectible in the time period between a vendor's preceding return and the present return, has been uncollected for at least six months, and that may be claimed as a deduction pursuant to the "Internal Revenue Code of 1954," 68A Stat. 50, 26 U.S.C. 166, as amended, and regulations adopted pursuant thereto, or that could be claimed as such a deduction if the vendor kept accounts on an accrual basis. "Bad debt" does not include any interest or sales tax on the purchase price, uncollectible amounts on property that remains in the possession of the vendor until the full purchase price is paid, expenses incurred in attempting to collect any account receivable or for any portion of the debt recovered, and repossessed property.

(B) In computing taxable receipts for purposes of this chapter, a vendor may deduct the amount of bad debts. The amount deducted must be charged off as uncollectible on the books of the vendor. A deduction may be claimed only with respect to bad debts on which the taxes pursuant to sections 5739.10 and 5739.12 of the Revised Code were paid in a preceding tax period. If the vendor's business consists of taxable and nontaxable transactions, the deduction shall equal the full amount of the debt if the debt is documented as a taxable transaction in the vendor's records. If no such documentation is available, the maximum deduction on any bad debt shall equal the amount of the bad debt multiplied by the quotient obtained by dividing the sales taxed pursuant to this chapter during the preceding calendar year by all sales during the preceding calendar year, whether taxed or not. If a consumer or other person pays all or part of a bad debt with respect to which a vendor claimed a deduction under this section, the vendor shall be liable for the amount of taxes deducted in connection with that portion of the debt for which payment is received and shall remit such taxes in the vendor's next payment to the tax commissioner.

(C) Any claim for a bad debt deduction under this section shall be supported by such evidence as the tax commissioner by rule requires. The commissioner shall review any change in the rate of taxation applicable to any taxable sales by a vendor claiming a deduction pursuant to this section and adopt rules for altering the deduction in the event of such a change in order to ensure that the deduction on any bad debt does not result in the vendor claiming the deduction recovering any more or less than the taxes imposed on the sale that constitutes the bad debt.

(D) In any reporting period in which the amount of bad debt exceeds the amount of taxable sales for the period, the vendor may file a refund claim for any tax collected on the bad debt in excess of the tax reported on the return. The refund claim shall be filed in the manner provided in section 5739.07 of the Revised Code, except that the claim may be filed within four years of the due date of the return on which the bad debt first could have been claimed.

(E) When the filing responsibilities of a vendor have been assumed by a certified service provider, the certified service provider shall claim the bad debt allowance provided by this section on behalf of the vendor. The certified service provider shall credit or refund to the vendor the full amount of any bad debt allowance or refund.

(F) No person other than the vendor in the transaction that generated the bad debt or, as provided in division (E) of this section, a certified service provider, may claim the bad debt allowance provided by this section.

Effective Date: 09-26-2003