Ohio Business Gateway Electronic Filing

General Information

Once a user is logged in, the business's OBG Home Page is displayed. The OBG Home Page provides easy access to start, continue, or checkout (submit) any transaction or service available on OBG. The name and FEIN of the business that the user is acting on behalf of is displayed in the upper left corner of the screen.

Each user sees the same OBG home page for the business subject to their access level as defined by the company's OBG Administrator. If a user has access to Ohio Department of Taxation - Sales Tax, the user will be able to start new Sales Tax transactions, as well as review/edit or delete any "In-Progress" or "Ready" Sales Tax transactions on the Home Page. If a user does not have access to a Service Area, the functions to start, review/edit, or delete transactions and services from that Service Area will be grayed out.

Multiple users should not attempt to simultaneously create, edit, or checkout with the same transaction at the same time.

Starting a Service or Transaction

The "Start" area of the OBG Home Page groups transactions and services by individual Service Area names. Once a Service Area is selected from the drop-down list, a list of the available transactions and services in that area is displayed. If the "Select" button for any of the individual transactions and services is grayed out, that usually indicates the user does not have access to that Service Area. The user should check with their OBG Administrator to review the access level established for the user.

Note that OBG provides access to some services that are provided via systems managed by partner Agencies. When selecting such a service, the user will be logged out of OBG and automatically forwarded to the system that provides the requested service.

Multiple users should not attempt to simultaneously create, edit, or checkout with the same transaction at the same time.

In-Progress Transactions

The "In-Progress" area of the OBG Home Page displays any transactions that are in the process of being created. "In-Progress" transactions can be continued (resumed) or deleted. "In-Progress" transactions have not yet had all required data entered into the system. Additionally, if a user is abnormally disconnected from their OBG session, any transactions that were in progress will be shown in this section at the next logon.

If a user does not have access to a Service Area, the functions to review/edit or delete transactions and services from that Service Area will be grayed out.

Multiple users should not attempt to simultaneously create, edit, or checkout with the same transaction at the same time.

Ready-for-Checkout Transactions

The "Ready for Checkout" area of the OBG Home Page displays any transactions that have had all required data entered and they are ready to be filed and/or paid. Transactions in "Ready" can be reviewed or deleted, or they can be submitted using the Checkout process. If a user logs out without deleting or checking out a transaction, that transaction will still be in the "Ready" section at the next logon.

If a user does not have access to a Service Area, the functions to review/edit or delete transactions and services from that Service Area will be grayed out.

Multiple users should not attempt to simultaneously create, edit, or checkout with the same transaction at the same time.

Agency-Specific Transaction Information

More detailed information on how to enter data for each Agency transaction available on OBG is available by choosing among the Agencies or the Program/Service Areas.

Payment Selections

The last step of creating a transaction involves the user specifying how any monetary obligation or amount due will be satisfied. These Payment Selections will be used during the Checkout process. Transactions are not filed and payments are not made unless and until the user presses the "Confirmation" button during checkout.

The options available for Payment Selections are presented and managed based upon the business rules of the Agency that administers the transaction. Payment Selections may include:

• How to pay – Whenever a payment is possible, payments may always be made online, via OBG, as part of the Checkout process. When available, other options are presented to enable users to indicate that a payment will be made outside of OBG via some other agency-approved method, or to indicate that no payment will be made.
• When to pay – When available, users may choose to defer payment to a future date. Available deferred dates may be restricted by agency rules, and users should always be certain to not defer payment past the due date for the transaction to avoid late filing and/or payment penalties. If Checkout does not occur until after the selected deferred date has passed, the user will be required to make new Payment Selections before Checkout can be completed.
• Type of account for payment – Online payments via OBG can be made with ACH debit from either a checking or savings account. Some agencies accept credit card payments as well. Note that credit card payments include convenience fees which will be indicated on the Payment Selection screen.
• Amount to pay – If a payment may be made in an amount less than the full amount due, users can indicate their desired payment. Some agencies permit partial payments but still impose minimum payments which will be enforced by the system.