Section 718.19. Requests for refunds

(A) Upon receipt of a request for a refund, the tax administrator of a municipal corporation, in accordance with this section, shall refund to employers, agents of employers, other payers, or taxpayers, with respect to any income or withholding tax levied by the municipal corporation:

(1) Overpayments of more than ten dollars;

(2) Amounts paid erroneously if the refund requested exceeds ten dollars.

(B)

(1) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, requests for refund shall be filed with the tax administrator, on the form prescribed by the tax administrator within three years after the tax was due or paid, whichever is later. The tax administrator may require the requestor to file with the request any documentation that substantiates the requestor's claim for a refund.

(2) On filing of the refund request, the tax administrator shall determine the amount of refund due and certify such amount to the appropriate municipal corporation official for payment. Except as provided in division (B)(3) of this section, the administrator shall issue an assessment to any taxpayer whose request for refund is fully or partially denied. The assessment shall state the amount of the refund that was denied, the reasons for the denial, and instructions for appealing the assessment.

(3) If a tax administrator denies in whole or in part a refund request included within the taxpayer's originally filed annual income tax return, the tax administrator shall notify the taxpayer, in writing, of the amount of the refund that was denied, the reasons for the denial, and instructions for requesting an assessment that may be appealed under section 718.11 of the Revised Code.

(C) A request for a refund that is received after the last day for filing specified in division (B) of this section shall be considered to have been filed in a timely manner if any of the following situations exist:

(1) The request is delivered by the postal service, and the earliest postal service postmark on the cover in which the request is enclosed is not later than the last day for filing the request.

(2) The request is delivered by the postal service, the only postmark on the cover in which the request is enclosed was affixed by a private postal meter, the date of that postmark is not later than the last day for filing the request, and the request is received within seven days of such last day.

(3) The request is delivered by the postal service, no postmark date was affixed to the cover in which the request is enclosed or the date of the postmark so affixed is not legible, and the request is received within seven days of the last day for making the request.

(D) As used in this section, "withholding tax" has the same meaning as in section 718.27 of the Revised Code.

Added by 130th General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 5, §1, eff. 3/23/2015, applicable to municipal taxable years beginning on or after 1/1/2016.