LIMA — Time is beginning to run short for last-minute tax preparers, with the April 18 filing deadline for submitting federal, state and local tax returns inching closer. For those who have yet to file, there are some important changes in filing municipal income tax that must be observed to avoid paying penalties.
Thanks to the passage of Ohio’s House Bill 5 in 2014, which went into effect for the 2016 tax year, anyone filing a municipal income tax return must include a copy of the corresponding federal Form 1040 with their local tax return and W-2s. Any form submitted without its federal counterpart will be deemed incomplete. An additional state mandate now requires that late filers be charged a penalty of $25 per month to a maximum of six months, totaling $150. The late filing penalty could apply if a tax return is sent in incomplete before the filing deadline and returned with all the forms after April 18.
“[The state government is] trying to get uniformity,” St. Marys Tax Administrator Angie Brown said. “They are trying to get all municipalities on some form of uniformity to where it’s known that you’re going to get late filing fees and you have to send in a 1040.”
The new changes have required some adjustment from residents, according to Wapakoneta Tax Administrator Diana Blackburn.
“We’ve been trying to educate our people on it,” she said. “We have signs up everywhere saying to make sure you have your 1040 with it. We’re putting it on our Facebook page and on our website.”
As for why the federal form is required, the goal is to help local tax administrators ensure that all income from taxpayers is taxed locally, including from such sources as gambling revenues, rental properties and home-based businesses.
“It’s already proven to show some dividends,” Lima Taxation Supervisor Chris Fast said. “We’ve already found people who have things like gambling income that they wouldn’t have necessarily reported to us. It’s to help us pick up other income that may be out there.”
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