USA State Payroll Rates + Resources: State of Ohio: Filing State Income Taxes, W-2s, and 1099s

Purpose

This documentation outlines the processes and requirements associated with filing state income taxes as well as how to file W-2s and 1099s, if needed, in the state of Ohio.

State Income Tax and School District Withholding 

Each employee must complete an Ohio IT 4, Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate, or the employer shall withhold tax from the employee’s compensation as if they have claimed zero exemptions.

Employees can claim up to the number of exemptions they are entitled to. In other words, if they are only eligible for 1 exemption, then they can claim 1 or 0 exemptions, but not 2 or more.

For the IT-4, if you agree to withhold additional taxes from your employee's paycheck, your employee may be eligible to have additional taxes withheld. Taxes will be withheld based on the number of exemptions and, if approved, the additional amount they have listed for each pay period.

The IT-4 also asks the employee for their school district name and number so that taxes can be withheld from their paycheck for school district income taxes. All Ohio employers are required to withhold school district income taxes if the district the employee listed on their IT-4 is a taxing school district.

If they are unsure if they live in a taxing school district, they can use The Finder on the Ohio Department of Taxation’s website.

State Income Tax and School District Withholding Reporting & Deposits 

Employers are required to file Ohio employer and school district withholding returns and make payment of these taxes withheld on the Ohio Business Gateway (OBG).

Odoo CMS - a big picture

An employer’s filing and payment frequency for Ohio employer withholding tax purposes is determined for each calendar year by the combined amount of Ohio and school district income taxes that were withheld or required to be withheld during the 12-month period ending June 30 of the preceding calendar year (look-back period).

Reporting and Deposits:

Frequency:
The combined amount of taxes that were withheld or required to be with withheld during the look-back period:
Due:
Quarterly
$0 to $2,000
The last day of the month following the end of each calendar quarter. 
Monthly
$2,001 but less than $83,999
Within 15 days following the end of each month.
Partial-Weekly
$84,000 or more
 The last day of the month following the end of each calendar quarter. 

Good to Know!

If the tax withheld by an employer during a pay period reaches $100,000 or more, payment of the accumulated taxes (excluding payment of school district income taxes) is due by the first banking day after the pay date on which the accumulated taxes equal or exceed $100,000. If the employer is a partial-weekly filer, payment must be made by EFT.

Every employer liable for Ohio withholding tax must keep on file the Ohio IT 4, Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate, for each employee. This provides a record of the school district name and number in which the employee resides. Employees must update the Ohio IT 4 whenever previous information becomes insufficient or incorrect.

Your school district income tax withholding filing frequency is the same as your employer withholding filing frequency for all filers except partial-weekly filers. All partial-weekly filers are required to file school district withholding monthly.

 Annual Reconciliations

An employer who is required to remit quarterly or monthly shall file the Ohio IT 941, Ohio Employer’s Annual Reconciliation of Income Tax Withheld, no later than the last day of the month following the end of the calendar year. Ohio IT 941 must be filed electronically at the OBG.

An employer who is required to remit partial-weekly shall file the Ohio IT 942, Ohio Employer’s EFT 4th Quarter/Annual Reconciliation of Income Tax Withheld, no later than the last day of the month following the end of the calendar year. The Ohio IT 942 is filed on OBG

W-2 and 1099 Forms

An employer required to withhold shall file on or before the last day of January of the succeeding calendar year the Ohio IT 3, Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements. Employers are no longer required to send the Department paper copies of the federal W-2.

Employers with 250 or more W-2 Copy A forms must file them electronically using the EFW2 format. Electronic format information is also available on the department’s Web site at the Ohio Department of Taxation.

Ohio also encourages smaller employers to send the W-2/1099-R information on magnetic media using the same format. 

 1099 Forms

You are only required to file 1099 forms with the state of Ohio if you are reporting backup withholding.

Ohio does participate in the combined federal and state filing. In most cases, if you participated in combined filing for your 1099 forms, you do not need to send 1099 forms to the state's Department of Revenue, they should already have a copy.

For further information, see the below resources: