Ohio Revised Code

Ohio Rev. Code § 5739.11 (2026)

Records open to inspection - exemption certificate

✓ current as of May 2026
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As used in this section, "food service operator" means a vendor who conducts a food service operation under Chapter 3717. of the Revised Code.

Each vendor shall keep complete and accurate records of sales, together with a record of the tax collected on the sales, which shall be the amount due under sections 5739.01 to 5739.31 of the Revised Code, and shall keep all invoices, bills of lading, and other such pertinent documents. Alternatively, any food service operator who has not been convicted under section 5739.99 of the Revised Code, with respect to the vendor's food service operation, may keep a sample of primary sales records. Such sample shall consist of all sales invoices, guest checks, cash register tapes, and other such documents for each of fourteen days in every calendar quarter. The specific days to be included in the sample shall be determined by the tax commissioner and entered in the commissioner's journal within ten days after the close of every calendar quarter. The tax commissioner shall notify each such operator registered pursuant to section 5739.17 of the Revised Code who requests such notification of the days to be included in each sample by the last day of the month following the close of each calendar quarter. The notice also shall contain a statement that destruction of primary records for time periods other than the specified sample period is optional, and that some operators may wish to keep all such records for four full years so as to be able to clearly demonstrate that they have fully complied with this chapter and Chapter 5741. of the Revised Code. The tax commissioner shall further make such determination known through a general news release.

Each vendor shall keep exemption certificates required to be obtained under section 5739.03 of the Revised Code. If the vendor makes sales not subject to the tax and not required to be evidenced by an exemption certificate, the vendor's records shall show the identity of the purchaser, if the sale was exempted by reason of such identity, or the nature of the transaction, if exempted for any other reason. Vendors are not required to differentiate in record-keeping between sales that are exempt from taxation under division (B)(2) of section 5739.02 of the Revised Code and those that are exempt under division (B)(16) of that section. Such records and other documents required to be kept by this section shall be open during business hours to the inspection of the tax commissioner, and shall be preserved for a period of four years, unless the commissioner, in writing, consents to their destruction within that period, or by order requires that they be kept longer.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 14 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1956–2021 · leading case: Thorbahn Ents., L.L.C. v. Ohio Dept. of Taxation, 2021 Ohio 4457 (Ohio Ct. App. 2021).
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Thorbahn Ents., L.L.C. v. Ohio Dept. of Taxation, 2021 Ohio 4457 (Ohio Ct. App. 2021). · cites it 9× “Upon review of Thorbahn's records, the auditor determined Thorbahn did not provide complete and accurate records of net taxable sales and tax collected as required by R.C. 5739.11. From the review, the auditor was able to determine that Thorbahn was remitting less sales tax than…”
Russo v. Donahue, 226 N.E.2d 747 (Ohio 1967). · cites it 6× “Section 5546-12, General Code (Section 5739.11, Revised Code), was amended to require the keeping of “complete and accurate records of sales of taxable property, together with a record of the tax collected thereon,” and Section 5546-12o, General Code (Section 5739.”
Akron Home Med. Servs., Inc. v. Lindley, 495 N.E.2d 417 (Ohio 1986). · cites it 2× “Appellant asserts that under R.C. 5739.11 and applicable case law the authority of the commissioner to use the test check auditing procedure is severely circumscribed to instances where the taxpayer failed to maintain proper records.”
Federated Dep't Stores, Inc. v. Lindley, 450 N.E.2d 687 (Ohio 1983). “Throughout this appeal, the commissioner has intimated that Rike’s records were insufficient! R.C. 5739.11 clearly-mandates that vendors are obligated to maintain complete and accurate records of sales upon which a .”
Denis Copy Co. v. Limbach, 603 N.E.2d 359 (Ohio Ct. App. 1992). · cites it 2× “Our review indicates that Denis Copy maintained no records of individual transactions and failed to comply with the record-keeping requirements with respect to sales tax under R.C. 5739.11. See McDonald’s of Springfield, Ohio, Inc.”
S. S. Kresge Co. v. Bowers, 206 N.E.2d 905 (Ohio 1965). · cites it 4× “10, Revised Code, cannot be interpreted to afford the taxpayer the means to avoid the keeping of complete and accurate records as required by Section 5739.11, Revised Code. To hold otherwise would excuse him from keeping such records.”
Pato Foods, Inc. v. Lindley, 453 N.E.2d 1274 (Ohio Ct. App. 1982). · cites it 2× “Section 5739.11, Revised Code, imposes upon the vendor the duty to maintain records.”
Zelkoff v. Bowers, 161 N.E.2d 396 (Ohio Ct. App. 1959). “The Board of Tax Appeals in its opinion relies upon the provisions of law requiring vendors to keep “complete and accurate records of sales of taxable property,” See §5739.11 R. C., which reads as follows: “Each vendor shall keep complete and accurate records of sales of taxable…”
Spring Hill Nurseries, Inc. v. Limbach, 599 N.E.2d 818 (Ohio Ct. App. 1991). · cites it 2× ““Any record in which accumulated data is recorded by the vendor must I be supported by complete detail records from which such data was accumulated.”
S. S. Kresge Co. v. Bowers, 170 Ohio St. (N.S.) 405 (Ohio 1960). · cites it 3× “” And Section 5739.11, Revised Code, reads: “Each vendor shall keep complete and accurate records of sales of taxable property, together with a record of the tax collected thereon, which shall be the amount due under Section 5739.”
State v. Sloan, 164 Ohio St. (N.S.) 579 (Ohio 1956). · cites it 2× “The time had long since passed during which the vendors were obliged to keep records as required by Section 5546-12, General Code (Section 5739.11, Eevised Code). To give this assessment against the vendors even the status of a prima facie showing of the amount owed by the…”
King Drug Co. v. Bowers, 171 Ohio St. (N.S.) 461 (Ohio 1961). · cites it 2× “ls, in its opinion under review here, stated, immediately before the paragraph beginning, “Under these circumstances,” and quoted in the dissenting opinion, the following: “From the testimony and evidence, as presented to the Board of Tax Appeals at the hearing held in…”
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