Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 5731.21 – Filing estate tax return

(A)
1. (1)
  1. (a) Except as provided under division (A)(3) of this section, the executor or administrator, or, if no executor or administrator has been appointed, another person in possession of property the transfer of which is subject to estate taxes under section 5731.02 or division (A) of section 5731.19 of the Revised Code, shall file an estate tax return, within nine months of the date of the decedent's death, in the form prescribed by the tax commissioner, in duplicate, with the probate court of the county. The return shall include all property the transfer of which is subject to estate taxes, whether that property is transferred under the last will and testament of the decedent or otherwise. The time for filing the return may be extended by the tax commissioner.
  2. (b) The estate tax return described in division (A)(1)(a) of this section shall be accompanied by a certificate, in the form prescribed by the tax commissioner, that is signed by the executor, administrator, or other person required to file the return, and that states all of the following:
    1. (i) The fact that the return was filed;
    2. (ii) The date of the filing of the return;
    3. (iii) The fact that the estate taxes under section 5731.02 or division (A) of section 5731.19 of the Revised Code, that are shown to be due in the return, have been paid in full;
    4. (iv) If applicable, the fact that real property listed in the inventory for the decedent's estate is included in the return;
    5. (v) If applicable, the fact that real property not listed in the inventory for the decedent's estate, including, but not limited to, survivorship tenancy property as described in section 5302.17 of the Revised Code or transfer on death property as described in sections 5302.22 and 5302.23 of the Revised Code, also is included in the return. In this regard, the certificate additionally shall describe that real property by the same description used in the return.
2. (2) The probate court shall forward one copy of the estate tax return described in division (A)(1)(a) of this section to the tax commissioner.
3. (3) A person shall not be required to file a return under division (A) of this section if the decedent was a resident of this state and the value of the decedent's gross estate is twenty-five thousand dollars or less in the case of a decedent dying on or after July 1, 1968, but before January 1, 2001; two hundred thousand dollars or less in the case of a decedent dying on or after January 1, 2001, but before January 1, 2002; or three hundred thirty-eight thousand three hundred thirty-three dollars or less in the case of a decedent dying on or after January 1, 2002. No return shall be filed for estates of decedents dying on or after January 1, 2013.
4. (4)
  1. (a) Upon receipt of the estate tax return described in division (A)(1)(a) of this section and the accompanying certificate described in division (A)(1)(b) of this section, the probate court promptly shall give notice of the return, by a form prescribed by the tax commissioner, to the county auditor. The auditor then shall make a charge based upon the notice and shall certify a duplicate of the charge to the county treasurer. The treasurer then shall collect, subject to division (A) of section 5731.25 of the Revised Code or any other statute extending the time for payment of an estate tax, the tax so charged.
  2. (b) Upon receipt of the return and the accompanying certificate, the probate court also shall forward the certificate to the auditor. When satisfied that the estate taxes under section 5731.02 or division (A) of section 5731.19 of the Revised Code, that are shown to be due in the return, have been paid in full, the auditor shall stamp the certificate so forwarded to verify that payment. The auditor then shall return the stamped certificate to the probate court.
5. (5)
  1. (a) The certificate described in division (A)(1)(b) of this section is a public record subject to inspection and copying in accordance with section 149.43 of the Revised Code. It shall be kept in the records of the probate court pertaining to the decedent's estate and is not subject to the confidentiality provisions of section 5731.90 of the Revised Code.
  2. (b) All persons are entitled to rely on the statements contained in a certificate as described in division (A)(1)(b) of this section if it has been filed in accordance with that division, forwarded to a county auditor and stamped in accordance with division (A)(4) of this section, and placed in the records of the probate court pertaining to the decedent's estate in accordance with division (A)(5)(a) of this section. The real property referred to in the certificate shall be free of, and may be regarded by all persons as being free of, any lien for estate taxes under section 5731.02 and division (A) of section 5731.19 of the Revised Code.
(B) An estate tax return filed under this section, in the form prescribed by the tax commissioner, and showing that no estate tax is due shall result in a determination that no estate tax is due, if the tax commissioner within three months after the receipt of the return by the department of taxation, fails to file exceptions to the return in the probate court of the county in which the return was filed. A copy of exceptions to a return of that nature, when the tax commissioner files them within that period, shall be sent by ordinary mail to the person who filed the return. The tax commissioner is not bound under this division by a determination that no estate tax is due, with respect to property not disclosed in the return.
(C) If the executor, administrator, or other person required to file an estate tax return fails to file it within nine months of the date of the decedent's death, the tax commissioner may determine the estate tax in that estate and issue a certificate of determination in the same manner as is provided in division (B) of section 5731.27 of the Revised Code. A certificate of determination of that nature has the same force and effect as though a return had been filed and a certificate of determination issued with respect to the return.