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State Representative Jim Buchy
Ohio Tax
Quiz-Will You Pass It?
Our tax filing deadline is upon us. This year, all the buzz is
about the new Ohio Tax Quiz, which is a requirement to get your refund
if you fall into certain categories considered high risk for tax
fraud. The goal is to ensure refund recipients are proving their
identity, thus reducing fraud.
The state of Ohio has contracted with LexisNexis to build a fraud
reduction system for Ohio that is unique to this state. The
test consists of 4 questions and, to pass, you must obtain a score of 3
out of 4. It is administered up to two times online, and then up to two
more times over the phone if needed.
The test developers have to compile 16 separate questions for every
individual tested. The information used for the questions was collected
from many public and commercial data sources. I have heard that
questions on the test have, at times, been extremely outdated,
offensive, and sometimes unsettling.
The Ohio Tax Department is reporting 97 percent of those responding
have been able to pass the test. For those unable to pass, some
may be committing fraud, and others will have to take a considerable
amount of time and effort to prove that they are truly entitled to
their refund.
The statistic that most alarms me is that through the end of February,
more than 150,000 tax filers have failed to even attempt to take the
test within two weeks of receiving the letter. The Ohio Tax
Department believes a majority of these individuals are probably filing
claims fraudulently. I am concerned that many of the people in
this group did not understand the requirement to take the quiz before
they could get their refund. If your state refund has been outstanding
for more than 30 days and you think you may have received a letter
encouraging you to take this test, please contact my office for
assistance with this issue.
This test was not a legislative initiative, but I am still concerned
about its impact. I am uneasy about the costs to administer it,
and am also curious if the benefits of this program outweigh the hassle
to Ohio’s taxpayers.
The tax commissioner put together this program without legislative
consultation and to-date I have had many concerned citizens contact my
office because of the struggles involved with the rollout.
Although, the tax commissioner contacted the lion’s share of Ohio’s tax
preparers, the department failed to inform taxpayers of this new
obstacle to getting their money back.
It is important that we examine the effectiveness of this test and go
back to the drawing board if need be to determine if it is really
necessary. If not, we must seek better ways to reduce instances of
fraud.
Please give me your opinion on this topic and others in the news this
month by completing an online survey at tinyurl.com/buchyapril2015
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