Columbus, OH – On Friday, The Buckeye Institute filed its appeal in Buckeye v. Kilgore with the Ohio Supreme Court asking the court to hear the case and recognize Ohio’s emergency-based local income tax system—where the state forced people to work from home, but nonetheless deemed their work to have been performed in a higher-taxed office location—as unconstitutional.

“The Ohio Supreme Court has held—time and again—that Ohio’s Constitution allows cities to tax nonresidents only on the work that is actually performed in the city,” said Jay R. Carson, senior litigator for The Buckeye Institute. “The Buckeye Institute is asking the Ohio Supreme Court to reaffirm that established and commonsense limits on municipal taxation, and the Due Process Clause, apply—even during a pandemic.” 

Members of Ohio’s General Assembly also filed an amicus brief (members’ brief) in support of The Buckeye Institute’s case writing, “The original intent and plain language of the legislative language was not recognized and properly applied in this case by the Tenth District Court of Appeals. This fundamental failure will likely adversely affect hundreds of thousands of Ohio citizens who could be deprived of rights to obtain refunds of tax remitted to municipalities by their employers…”

The members’ brief was joined by Ohio Representative Bill Seitz, House Majority Floor Leader; Ohio Representative Don Jones, House Majority Whip; Ohio Representative Cindy Abrams, House Majority Assistant Whip; Ohio Representative Derek Merrin, House Ways and Means Committee Chair; Ohio Representative Kris Jordan, House Financial Institutions Committee Chair; and Ohio Senator George F. Lang, Senate Small Business and Opportunity Committee Vice-Chair. 

National Taxpayers Union Foundation also filed an amicus brief on behalf of Buckeye’s case.
 
The Buckeye Institute brought this case on behalf of itself and three of its employees in July 2020, and has filed four other cases similarly challenging House Bill 197’s unconstitutional overreach.

• Denison v. Kilgore was filed in Franklin County Court of Common Pleas in February 2021 and settled in favor of Buckeye’s client Mr. Denison in April 2021.
• Schaad v. Alder was filed in Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas in February 2021 and appealed to Ohio’s First District Court of Appeals in September 2021. Oral arguments are scheduled for January 25, 2022.
• Curcio v. Hufford was filed in Lucas County Court of Common Pleas in March 2021 and is being appealed to Ohio’s Sixth District Court of Appeals.
• Morsy v. Dumas was filed in Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas in April 2021.

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