If you were charged sales tax during Ohio’s sales tax-free period, you may be able to file for a refund, according to the Ohio Department of Taxation.
If you review your receipts from the July 30-August 8 holiday season and find that you were charged sales tax, the Ohio Department of Taxation encourages you to file a direct-to-consumer refund online using a sales tax refund form.
This year, for the first time, restaurants were included in the holiday for guests who wanted to eat in, but some restaurant owners said they were unaware of the change.
Some restaurant owners are unaware of this and misinformed
Many local restaurant owners were unaware of the tax exemption and often had conflicts with customers in the first days of the tax exemption.
This was the case at Menches Brothers, where the restaurant began deducting sales tax in full a day or two after the change was announced, according to Mike Aleman, the restaurant’s vice president.
Tony Ciriello, the owner of Luigi’s Restaurant, also wasn’t aware of the holiday until customers started speaking out. One of the first to do so even talked about reporting the restaurant to the government.
“If (that first customer) hadn’t caused the uproar, I would never have known,” Ciriello said. “You know, maybe I would have been in a bind in the long run if I hadn’t done it.”
Some local restaurant chains, such as Rockne’s, were aware of the change but chose not to participate. A Beacon Journal reporter was dining at the West Hill branch during the tax-free holiday when her waitress said that company management had instructed the branches not to deduct sales tax from customers’ receipts.
According to the Ohio Department of Revenue, the holiday was mandatory and restaurants could not get an exemption. Businesses that did not comply faced penalties. However, the state’s focus was on educating vendors and sellers about the holiday’s requirements.
Read on for more: Local restaurants are not informed and forego the sales tax exemption in Ohio
Beacon Journal reporter Anthony Thompson contributed to this report. Have a restaurant recommendation? Contact Beacon Journal reporter Tawney Beans at [email protected] and on Twitter @TawneyBeans. And follow her culinary adventures on TikTok @akronbeaconjournal.
