Ohio Supreme Court Rejects Taxes on Draft Beer Tap Maintenance and Cleaning

Ohio Supreme Court rejects taxes on draft beer tap maintenance and cleaning–limits scope of taxation on janitorial-type services.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that cleaning and maintaining draft beer lines is not taxable as a “building maintenance and janitorial service.” The Court interpreted the definition of these taxable services in the context of what normally would be considered cleaning in the context of a janitorial service. We’re glad the taxpayer, Great Lakes Bar Control, Inc., will be able to keep the beer flowing tax-free—just in time for the New Year!

The Court rejected the Ohio Tax Commissioner’s efforts to tax a broad group of non-janitorial services simply because they involved cleaning tangible property located inside a building. Instead, taxable janitorial services are limited to those activities which ordinarily would be considered to be janitorial, such as washing floors, removing trash, vacuuming and dusting. This common sense approach will be extended to determining the scope of all taxable services in Ohio.

You can read more about the details of this pro-taxpayer ruling on the Ohio State Tax Blog.

The taxpayer in Great Lakes Bar Control, Inc. v. Testa was represented by Buckingham attorneys Steven A. Dimengo, Matt Duncan, and Rich Fry. If you have questions about whether your cleaning services are subject to Ohio sales / use tax, please contact us.