If you’re truly just passing through Ohio without picking up or delivering freight, you likely don’t owe CAT. The Commercial Activity Tax is based on gross receipts from business activities in Ohio, not on which highways your trucks use.

Ohio determines where receipts are “sitused” for CAT purposes. For transportation services, receipts are generally sitused to the state where the service is delivered. Pick up a load in Indiana and deliver it to Pennsylvania while driving through Ohio on I-80? That receipt isn’t sitused to Ohio. You didn’t perform the transportation service in Ohio. You just drove through.

The rules change when you actually do business in Ohio. If you deliver freight to an Ohio destination, that receipt is likely sitused here. If you pick up in Ohio and deliver elsewhere, the delivery state typically gets the receipt under Ohio’s rules. Hauls that both originate and end within Ohio definitely count as Ohio receipts.

Once your Ohio-sitused receipts exceed $150,000 annually, you have CAT filing and payment obligations. Below that threshold, you may still need to file an annual minimum tax return depending on your situation, but the actual tax owed is minimal or zero.

Being headquartered in Ohio doesn’t mean all your revenue is automatically taxable here. A Findlay-based trucking company running loads across the Midwest only owes CAT on the portion of receipts properly sitused to Ohio. Track your Ohio pickups and deliveries separately so you know where you stand relative to the threshold.

The confusion is understandable because different states handle transportation taxation differently. Some use mileage-based apportionment. Others look at where equipment is based. Ohio’s CAT uses situsing rules that focus on where the service is delivered, which actually works in favor of trucking companies that are just passing through.

If your routes regularly involve Ohio pickups or deliveries, understanding CAT filing requirements matters. For companies truly just using Ohio highways to get somewhere else, CAT isn’t something you need to worry about. The tax follows the business activity, not the physical presence of your trucks on the road.

When your Ohio business activity is substantial enough to trigger CAT obligations, working with a Northwest Ohio bookkeeping service familiar with transportation companies can help you track sitused receipts properly and file correctly. Getting it wrong in either direction causes problems. Overpaying wastes money. Underpaying creates liability.