Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 5733.09 – Exempted companies

(A)
1. (1) Except as provided in divisions (A)(2) and (3) of this section, an incorporated company, whether foreign or domestic, owning and operating a public utility in this state, and required by law to file reports with the tax commissioner and to pay an excise tax upon its gross receipts, and insurance, fraternal, beneficial, bond investment, and other corporations required by law to file annual reports with the superintendent of insurance and dealers in intangibles, the shares of which are, or the capital or ownership in capital employed by such dealer is, subject to the taxes imposed by section 5707.03 of the Revised Code, shall not be subject to this chapter, except for sections 5733.031, 5733.042, 5733.05, 5733.052, 5733.053, 5733.069, 5733.0611, 5733.40, 5733.41, and sections 5747.40 to 5747.453 of the Revised Code. However, for reports required to be filed under section 5725.14 of the Revised Code in 2003 and thereafter, nothing in this section shall be construed to exempt the property of any dealer in intangibles under section 5725.13 of the Revised Code from the tax imposed under section 5707.03 of the Revised Code.
2. (2) An electric company subject to the filing requirements of section 5727.08 of the Revised Code or otherwise having nexus with or in this state under the Constitution of the United States, or any other corporation having any gross receipts directly attributable to providing public utility service as an electric company or having any property directly attributable to providing public utility service as an electric company, is subject to this chapter.
3. (3) A telephone company that no longer pays an excise tax under section 5727.30 of the Revised Code on its gross receipts billed after June 30, 2004, is first subject to taxation under this chapter for tax year 2005. For that tax year, a telephone company with a taxable year ending in 2004 shall compute the tax imposed under this chapter, and shall compute the net operating loss carry forward for tax year 2005, by multiplying the tax owed under this chapter, net of all nonrefundable credits, or the loss for the taxable year, by fifty per cent.
(B) A corporation that has made an election under subchapter S, chapter one, subtitle A, of the Internal Revenue Code for its taxable year under such code is exempt from the tax imposed by section 5733.06 of the Revised Code that is based on that taxable year. A corporation that makes such an election shall file a notice of such election with the tax commissioner between the first day of January and the thirty-first day of March of each tax year that the election is in effect.
(C) An entity defined to be a "real estate investment trust" by section 856 of the Internal Revenue Code, a "regulated investment company" by section 851 of the Internal Revenue Code, or a "real estate mortgage investment conduit" by section 860D of the Internal Revenue Code, is exempt from taxation for a tax year as a corporation under this chapter and is exempt from taxation for a return year as a dealer in intangibles under Chapter 5725. of the Revised Code if it provides the report required by this division. By the last day of March of the tax or return year the entity shall submit to the tax commissioner the name of the entity with a list of the names, addresses, and social security or federal identification numbers of all investors, shareholders, and other similar investors who owned any interest or invested in the entity during the preceding calendar year. The commissioner may extend the date by which the report must be submitted for reasonable cause shown by the entity. The commissioner may prescribe the form of the report required for exemption under this division.
(D)
1. (1) As used in this division:
  1. (a) "Commercial printer" means a person primarily engaged in the business of commercial printing. However, "commercial printer" does not include a person primarily engaged in the business of providing duplicating services using photocopy machines or other xerographic processes.
  2. (b) "Commercial printing" means printing by one or more common processes such as letterpress, lithography, gravure, screen, or digital imaging, and includes related activities such as binding, platemaking, prepress operation, cartographic composition, and typesetting.
  3. (c) "Contract for printing" means an oral or written agreement for the purchase of printed materials produced by a commercial printer.
  4. (d) "Intangible property located at the premises of a commercial printer" means intangible property of any kind owned or licensed by a customer of the commercial printer and furnished to the commercial printer for use in commercial printing.
  5. (e) "Printed material" means any tangible personal property produced or processed by a commercial printer pursuant to a contract for printing.
  6. (f) "Related member" has the same meaning as in section 5733.042 of the Revised Code without regard to division (B) of that section.
2. (2) Except as provided in divisions (D)(3) and (4) of this section, a corporation not otherwise subject to the tax imposed by section 5733.06 of the Revised Code for a tax year does not become subject to that tax for the tax year solely by reason of any one or more of the following occurring in this state during the taxable year that ends immediately prior to the tax year:
  1. (a) Ownership by the corporation or a related member of the corporation of tangible personal property or intangible property located during all or any portion of the taxable year or on the first day of the tax year at the premises of a commercial printer with which the corporation or the corporation's related member has a contract for printing with respect to such property or the premises of a commercial printer's related member with which the corporation or the corporation's related member has a contract for printing with respect to such property;
  2. (b) Sales by the corporation or a related member of the corporation of property produced at and shipped or distributed from the premises of a commercial printer with which the corporation or the corporation's related member has a contract for printing with respect to such property or the premises of a commercial printer's related member with which the corporation or the corporation's related member has a contract for printing with respect to such property;
  3. (c) Activities of employees, officers, agents, or contractors of the corporation or a related member of the corporation on the premises of a commercial printer with which the corporation or the corporation's related member has a contract for printing or the premises of a commercial printer's related member with which the corporation or the corporation's related member has a contract for printing, where the activities are directly and solely related to quality control, distribution, or printing services, or any combination thereof, performed by or at the direction of the commercial printer or the commercial printer's related member.
3. (3) The exemption under this division does not apply for a taxable year to any corporation having on the first day of January of the tax year or at any time during the taxable year ending immediately preceding the first day of January of the tax year a related member which, on the first day of January of the tax year or during any portion of such taxable year of the corporation, has nexus in or with this state under the Constitution of the United States or holds a certificate of compliance with the laws of this state authorizing it to do business in this state.
4. (4) With respect to allowing the exemption under this division, the tax commissioner shall be guided by the doctrines of "economic reality," "sham transaction," "step transaction," and "substance over form." A corporation shall bear the burden of establishing by a preponderance of the evidence that any transaction giving rise to an exemption claimed under this division did not have as a principal purpose the avoidance of any portion of the tax imposed by section 5733.06 of the Revised Code. Application of the doctrines listed in division (D)(4) of this section is not limited to this division.