Ohio Code 5735.10 – Dealers to retain records – inspection by tax commissioner
(A) Each motor fuel dealer and each retail dealer shall maintain complete and accurate records of purchases and sales of motor fuel and shall procure and retain all invoices, bills of lading, and other documents relating thereto, except that no retail dealer shall be required to issue or maintain invoices relating to that retail dealer’s sales of motor fuel.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 5735.10
- in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures; this provision does not affect any law relating to signatures. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Motor fuel: means gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, compressed natural gas, or any other liquid motor fuel, including, but not limited to, liquid petroleum gas or liquid natural gas, but excluding substances prepackaged and sold in containers of five gallons or less. See Ohio Code 5735.01
- Person: includes individuals, partnerships, firms, associations, corporations, receivers, trustees in bankruptcy, estates, joint-stock companies, joint ventures, the state and its political subdivisions, and any combination of persons of any form. See Ohio Code 5735.01
- Retail dealer: means any person that sells or distributes motor fuel at a retail service station located in this state. See Ohio Code 5735.01
- Retail service station: means a location from which motor fuel is sold to the general public and is dispensed or pumped directly into motor vehicle fuel tanks for consumption. See Ohio Code 5735.01
(B) Every retail dealer shall take meter readings or totalizer readings and tank stick readings at a retail service station daily.
(C) Every retail dealer shall maintain accurate records each time a retail pump meter or totalizer is serviced, repaired, or replaced. The repair and replacement records must indicate, at a minimum, the date of the repair or replacement, the meter or pump number, and all ascending and descending numbers.
(D) Such records and documents 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 for a longer period.
No person shall refuse to provide such records and documents to the tax commissioner or any person employed by the commissioner for the purpose of inspecting such records and documents.
(E) No person required by this section to maintain accurate records shall maintain or provide false or fraudulent records.