One of the most common tax-related misconceptions is that filing a tax extension increases your risk of a tax audit.
This longstanding myth is simply not true, as filing a tax extension can statistically decrease the risk of an audit.
In addition to statistically decreasing the risk of an audit, there is also one other benefit to extending a tax return.
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Often taxpayers will provide their tax preparer with most of their pertinent information needed to file tax returns. However, they sometimes forget to pass along notices from a tax authority, which could impact returns.
For instance, when the Ohio Department of Taxation identifies a perceived calculation error in an individual tax return, they issue a variance notice to the taxpayer. This notice compares the figures on the return as filed to the department’s recalculated figures and allows for the taxpayer to disagree with some or all of the adjustments by providing additional documentation.
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Many individuals may think the time to plan for tax season occurs during the tax season, which occurs after their tax year has ended.
Unfortunately, this is often too late to make any adjustments, which may have benefited the taxpayer.
Similarly, businesses can also fall into this line of thinking and fail to plan for tax season during their tax year.
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Ask the expert: Do I have to Report Gains Made Through Trading Cryptocurrencies?
Like everything in life, the manufacturing process has a beginning and an end. Understanding that process is important for making business decisions regarding raw materials, staffing, inventory, fixed assets, and innovation.
This knowledge is also used by well-advised businesses to reduce tax expense in Ohio and many other states that have designed their sales tax structure to promote manufacturing.
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Ohio does not require sales or use tax to be paid on the purchase or consumption of items used primarily in the manufacturing operation to produce personal property for sale. One of the challenges in maximizing the benefit of this exemption is understanding, for sales tax purposes, when the production process begins and ends.
Production begins when raw materials are committed to the process and ends when the product is in its final state or form. While these definitions seem straightforward, they tend to incredibly nuanced depending on the product being created and the specific process being utilized by the manufacturer.
An additional challenge in properly applying the exemption is when assets or materials are used in both manufacturing and non-manufacturing processes. For example, forklifts are often used to move raw materials, production items, and finished goods. The cost to purchase, maintain, and power the forklifts may or may not be subject to sales tax depending on whether or not they are used primarily in the production process.
Con artists often approach victims in their native language, threaten them with deportation, police arrest and license revocation, among other things.
“These scammers continue to adapt and evolve, and the IRS continues to receive reports of these schemes using multiple languages trying to find victims across the country,” IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said.
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While there are a myriad of ways to reduce Ohio income taxes that are well known and widely leveraged, some methods seem to go largely unnoticed. One of those lesser-known and underutilized methods that every small business owner, or those interested in owning a small business, should be aware of is the InvestOhio program.
InvestOhio, launched by the State of Ohio several years ago, was created to encourage investment in Ohio-based eligible small businesses. Qualifying applicants to this program will receive non-refundable Ohio personal income tax credits equal to 10% of their investment in an eligible small business. Any unused credits can be carried forward up to seven years.
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In my youth, I was fascinated by all things weird and wonderful. The natural wonders of the world, such as the Grand Canyon or Aurora Borealis, were impressive for their scale and beauty. However, the man-made wonders were impressive not only for their scale and beauty but also for the fact that they sprung from the minds of men and made real through years of hard work. 
I was in awe and fueled my interests through the joy of reading. I always held a love for books and looked forward to trips to the local library, so I could find an armful of books that I could read and fill my book log during the annual summer reading program.
What Employers and Workers Should Know The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division announced a proposed rule intended to clarify when a worker is an employee and when the worker may be classified as an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards...
A Tax Filing Risk Alert for Taxpayers For decades, many taxpayers have relied on a simple rule of thumb: if it is in the mail by the deadline, you are fine. However, recent U.S. Postal Service (USPS) clarification makes that assumption riskier. On Dec. 24, 2025, the...
Tax season has always been a prime opportunity for scammers, and 2026 is emerging as one of the most dangerous years yet. With increased filing confusion, AI‑powered fraud tactics, and a surge in data breaches fueling identity theft, tax clients need to be more...
On Jan. 22, Zinner & Co. employees spent the afternoon volunteering at the Greater Cleveland Food Bank’s Community Resource Center Healthy Choice Market. Our team was proud to support neighbors directly by helping make the shopping experience easier, more...
The recently enacted One Big Beautiful Bill Act introduces a major change to the federal tax code, delivering welcome news for both employees and employers for tax years 2025 through 2028, as qualified overtime pay will not be subject to Federal income tax. This...
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