Ohio Justices Suspicious of State Tax on West Virginia Car Lots

The Ohio tax commissioner didn’t seem to sway the state high court at oral arguments Tuesday that a group of car dealerships in West Virginia owes $2 million in commercial activity tax on cars sold to Ohioans.

Tax Commissioner Patricia Harris wants the court to overturn a state tax tribunal’s ruling that the focus should be on where the purchase, receipt, and delivery of each car takes place. Ohio residents received their cars in West Virginia, so gross receipts from the sales can’t be taxed by Ohio, the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals had said.

When a car dealership in ...