Health & Fitness
Hurry, shoppers! Ohio’s sales tax increase is days away
By Maggie Thurber | for Ohio Watchdog
TOLEDO — If you haven’t done all your back-to-school shopping, you might want to finish it before Sept. 1. That’s when the Ohio sales tax increase takes effect.
Although the tax boost is mere days away, it came as a total surprise to Samantha Kuvicki, who said the increase will hurt her pocketbook as she stood outside the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library Thursday.
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“I don’t make a lot of money,” she said. “I have a part-time job at Jimmy John’s and I already try to bargain shop,” she said.
Lawmakers voted to increase the state sales and use tax from 5.5 percent to 5.75 percent in the most recent biennial budget bill, H.B. 59. Consumers actually pay more because counties and regional transit authorities can collect a local sales tax of up to 3 percent, meaning consumers in some jurisdictions pay up to 8.5 percent.
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The use tax, which is equal in amount to the sales tax, is what purchasers must pay to Ohio whenever the vendor or supplier doesn’t collect a sales tax. The most common instance is when an item is purchased online or over the phone.
In an effort to level the playing field with items sold in stores, magazine subscriptions and digital products will be subject to the sales and use tax beginning Jan. 1.
That aspect of the law bugs Toledo resident Ernest Reed.