It can be amusing to watch the reaction of lawmakers confronted with a change that would not only make life a little easier for employers, it could open the door to businesses being able to reduce their tax burden. According to a report in the Ohio Capital Journal, that is happening in Columbus, as lawmakers consider whether to make an adjustment that would simplify tax filing for employers with an increasing number of remote workers.

In Ohio, municipalities are allowed to levy income taxes on businesses operating within city limits. These days, employers might have workers spread out over several municipalities.

“Employers would need to track remote work locations of employees, determine if the employee was using company property and if sales were generated from that remote location,” said Tony Long, Ohio Chamber of Commerce general counsel, who also said employers would “potentially face filing requirements to municipalities that they do not conduct business in or have property located in but for the remote worker.”

Filing all those returns might cost more than the taxes owed. But there is a proposal to allow businesses to apply their remote workers to a “qualifying reporting location” for the purposes of calculating business income taxes.

Rep. Sean Brennan, D-Parma, is among those worried this would “disproportionately decrease their tax burden.” Brennan appears not to trust business owners; and prefers to keep things as difficult for them as possible.

But Greg Saul of the Ohio Society of CPAs explained the idea is to make things easier for employers in a way that is revenue neutral. He pointed out, “If (tax avoidance) was the business’s goal, I would think that that mechanism is available to them under current law.”

“There’s a three-factor formula of how they can choose the remote work location, but the last one is (it) requires the employer to act in good faith when designating a reporting location,” Saul said. “Any city that is concerned about the location can challenge an employer on that point.”

Brennan and crew need to contain their urge to halt something good for private businesses because they are worried government might collect a little less money if some don’t act in good faith. Cut some red tape for employers, and have confidence the vast majority of them will do the right thing.

editorial@vindy.com