(A) As used in this section and division (F)(2)(z) of section 5751.01 of the Revised Code:

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(1) “Qualifying distribution center receipts” means receipts of a supplier from qualified property that is delivered to a qualified distribution center, multiplied by a quantity that equals one minus the Ohio delivery percentage. If the qualified distribution center is a refining facility, “supplier” includes all dealers, brokers, processors, sellers, vendors, cosigners, and distributors of qualified property.

(2) “Qualified property” means tangible personal property delivered to a qualified distribution center that is shipped to that qualified distribution center solely for further shipping by the qualified distribution center to another location in this state or elsewhere or, in the case of gold, silver, platinum, or palladium delivered to a refining facility solely for refining to a grade and fineness acceptable for delivery to a registered commodities exchange. “Further shipping” includes storing and repackaging property into smaller or larger bundles, so long as the property is not subject to further manufacturing or processing. “Refining” is limited to extracting impurities from gold, silver, platinum, or palladium through smelting or some other process at a refining facility.

(3) “Qualified distribution center” means a warehouse, a facility similar to a warehouse, or a refining facility in this state that, for the qualifying year, is operated by a person that is not part of a combined taxpayer group and that has a qualifying certificate. All warehouses or facilities similar to warehouses that are operated by persons in the same taxpayer group and that are located within one mile of each other shall be treated as one qualified distribution center. All refining facilities that are operated by persons in the same taxpayer group and that are located in the same or adjacent counties may be treated as one qualified distribution center.

(4) “Qualifying year” means the calendar year to which the qualifying certificate applies.

(5) “Qualifying period” means the period of the first day of July of the second year preceding the qualifying year through the thirtieth day of June of the year preceding the qualifying year.

(6) “Qualifying certificate” means the certificate issued by the tax commissioner after the operator of a distribution center files an annual application with the commissioner under division (B) of this section.

(7) “Ohio delivery percentage” means the proportion of the total property delivered to a destination inside Ohio from the qualified distribution center during the qualifying period compared with total deliveries from such distribution center everywhere during the qualifying period.

(8) “Refining facility” means one or more buildings located in a county in the Appalachian region of this state as defined by section 107.21 of the Revised Code and utilized for refining or smelting gold, silver, platinum, or palladium to a grade and fineness acceptable for delivery to a registered commodities exchange.

(9) “Registered commodities exchange” means a board of trade, such as New York mercantile exchange, inc. or commodity exchange, inc., designated as a contract market by the commodity futures trading commission under the “Commodity Exchange Act,” 7 U.S.C. 1 et seq., as amended.

(10) “Ineligible operator’s supplier tax liability” means an amount equal to the tax liability of all suppliers of a distribution center had the distribution center not been issued a qualifying certificate for the qualifying year. Ineligible operator’s supplier tax liability shall not include interest or penalties.

(B) For purposes of division (B) of this section, “supplier” excludes any person that is part of the consolidated elected taxpayer group, if applicable, of the operator of the qualified distribution center.

(1) An application for a qualifying certificate to be a qualified distribution center shall be filed, and an annual fee paid, for each qualified distribution center on or before the first day of September before the qualifying year or within forty-five days after the distribution center opens, whichever is later. The applicant must substantiate to the commissioner’s satisfaction that, for the qualifying period, all persons operating the distribution center have more than fifty per cent of the cost of the qualified property shipped to a location such that it would be sitused outside this state under the provisions of division (E) of section 5751.033 of the Revised Code. The applicant must also substantiate that the distribution center cumulatively had costs from its suppliers equal to or exceeding five hundred million dollars during the qualifying period.

The commissioner may require an applicant to have an independent certified public accountant certify that the calculation of the minimum thresholds required for a qualified distribution center by the operator of a distribution center has been made in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. The commissioner shall issue or deny the issuance of a certificate within sixty days after the receipt of the application. A denial is subject to appeal under section 5717.02 of the Revised Code. If the operator files a timely appeal under section 5717.02 of the Revised Code, the operator shall be granted a qualifying certificate effective for the remainder of the qualifying year or until the appeal is finalized, whichever is earlier. If the operator does not prevail in the appeal, the operator shall pay the ineligible operator’s supplier tax liability.

(2) If the distribution center is new and was not open for the entire qualifying period, the operator of the distribution center may request that the commissioner grant a qualifying certificate. If the certificate is granted and it is later determined that more than fifty per cent of the qualified property during that year was not shipped to a location such that it would be sitused outside of this state under the provisions of division (E) of section 5751.033 of the Revised Code or if it is later determined that the person that operates the distribution center had average monthly costs from its suppliers of less than forty million dollars during that year, then the operator of the distribution center shall pay the ineligible operator’s supplier tax liability.

(3) The commissioner may grant a qualifying certificate to a distribution center that does not qualify as a qualified distribution center for an entire qualifying period if the operator of the distribution center demonstrates that the business operations of the distribution center have changed or will change such that the distribution center will qualify as a qualified distribution center within thirty-six months after the date the operator first applies for a certificate. If, at the end of that thirty-six-month period, the business operations of the distribution center have not changed such that the distribution center qualifies as a qualified distribution center, the operator of the distribution center shall pay the ineligible operator’s supplier tax liability for each year that the distribution center received a certificate but did not qualify as a qualified distribution center. For each year the distribution center receives a certificate under division (B)(3) of this section, the distribution center shall pay all applicable fees required under this section and shall submit an updated business plan showing the progress the distribution center made toward qualifying as a qualified distribution center during the preceding year.

(4) An operator may appeal a determination under division (B)(2) or (3) of this section that the ineligible operator is liable for the operator’s supplier tax liability as a result of not qualifying as a qualified distribution center, as provided in section 5717.02 of the Revised Code.

(C)(1) When filing an application for a qualifying certificate under division (B)(1) of this section, the operator of a qualified distribution center also shall provide documentation, as the commissioner requires, for the commissioner to ascertain the Ohio delivery percentage. The commissioner, upon issuing the qualifying certificate, also shall certify the Ohio delivery percentage. The operator of the qualified distribution center may appeal the commissioner’s certification of the Ohio delivery percentage in the same manner as an appeal is taken from the denial of a qualifying certificate under division (B)(1) of this section.

(2) In the case where the distribution center is new and not open for the entire qualifying period, the operator shall make a good faith estimate of an Ohio delivery percentage for use by suppliers in their reports of taxable gross receipts for the remainder of the qualifying period. The operator of the facility shall disclose to the suppliers that such Ohio delivery percentage is an estimate and is subject to recalculation. By the due date of the next application for a qualifying certificate, the operator shall determine the actual Ohio delivery percentage for the estimated qualifying period and proceed as provided in division (C)(1) of this section with respect to the calculation and recalculation of the Ohio delivery percentage. The supplier is required to file, within sixty days after receiving notice from the operator of the qualified distribution center, amended reports for the impacted calendar quarter or quarters or calendar year, whichever the case may be. Any additional tax liability or tax overpayment shall be subject to interest but shall not be subject to the imposition of any penalty so long as the amended returns are timely filed.

(3) The operator of a distribution center that receives a qualifying certificate under division (B)(3) of this section shall make a good faith estimate of the Ohio delivery percentage that the operator estimates will apply to the distribution center at the end of the thirty-six-month period after the operator first applied for a qualifying certificate under that division. The result of the estimate shall be multiplied by a factor of one and seventy-five one-hundredths. The product of that calculation shall be the Ohio delivery percentage used by suppliers in their reports of taxable gross receipts for each qualifying year that the distribution center receives a qualifying certificate under division (B)(3) of this section, except that, if the product is less than five per cent, the Ohio delivery percentage used shall be five per cent and that, if the product exceeds forty-nine per cent, the Ohio delivery percentage used shall be forty-nine per cent.

(D) Qualifying certificates and Ohio delivery percentages issued by the commissioner shall be timely published on the department of taxation’s web site and shall be accessible on that web site for at least four years after the date of issuance. A supplier relying in good faith on a certificate issued under this section shall not be subject to tax on the qualifying distribution center receipts under this section and division (F)(2)(z) of section 5751.01 of the Revised Code. An operator receiving a qualifying certificate is liable for the ineligible operator’s supplier tax liability for each year the operator received a certificate but did not qualify as a qualified distribution center.

(E) The tax commissioner shall determine an ineligible operator’s supplier tax liability based on information that the commissioner may request from the operator of the distribution center. An operator shall provide a list of all suppliers of the distribution center and the corresponding costs of qualified property for the qualifying year at issue within sixty days of a request by the commissioner under this division.

(F) The annual fee for a qualifying certificate shall be one hundred thousand dollars for each qualified distribution center. If a qualifying certificate is not issued, the annual fee is subject to refund after the exhaustion of all appeals provided for in division (B)(1) of this section. The first one hundred thousand dollars of the annual application fees collected each calendar year shall be credited to the revenue enhancement fund. The remainder of the annual application fees collected shall be distributed in the same manner required under section 5751.20 of the Revised Code.

(G) The tax commissioner may require that adequate security be posted by the operator of the distribution center on appeal when the commissioner disagrees that the applicant has met the minimum thresholds for a qualified distribution center as set forth in this section.