Tax Policy

In today's economic climate, state and local governments often pursue tax law changes to close loopholes or reform tax systems.  Generally, these efforts are designed to raise revenue.  Additionally, older tax laws often do not address the changing economy and the way in which business is conducted.  The need to understand and navigate the regulatory and legislative process is greater than ever.  ZHF professionals have the necessary experience in dealing with all government officials, policy makers, and legislators to address tax policy developments impacting our clients.

Unlike many “lobbyists,” ZHF takes a very structured and comprehensive approach to our tax policy and government relations efforts.  First, we gain an understanding of our client’s business, goals and philosophy.  Once specific legislative goals are identified, we develop a work plan designed to identify the steps necessary to successfully obtain the results our client is seeking.  Our workplan assigns each task to ZHF or client personnel, and provides a completion date.  This disciplined approach ensures maximum effectiveness of legislative efforts.

Recently, we helped negotiate a legislative fix to Ohio's Job Creation and Retention Tax Credits. Those credits, which are most commonly awarded to companies, were previously measured by employee tax withholding. Significant reductions in the individual income tax rates had and unintended impact of reducing previously negotiated credits. Working with the Developmental Services Agency, we were able to negotiate and draft a credit adjustment factor that will allow qualifying companies to obtain the negotiated benefit from these credits.