You do not need your state return to respond to a municipal audit (you would if it is a School District, rather than city return).
City income tax is levied only on earned income (w-2 income or self employment), not your total income. At this point it is easier to just deal with the city tax people, than to try to use TT.
Some (most) Ohio Cities have an
income tax. Any Ohio
city, with an income tax, is allowed to have withholding taken out of your pay
while you worked in that city. Your employer is required to do that
withholding. You can't get a refund unless it was improperly withheld, i.e. you
didn't actually work there for all or part of the time that your employer was
withholding. If you live in a city with an income tax,
you are subject to that city's tax as well. The city you live in will usually allow a credit or partial credit for
the withheld tax you paid to the work location city.
You normally only have to
file a return in the city you live in. It is not necessary to file one in the
city you work in, if different. Your employer will remit withholding to the
city you work in, but you do not file a return unless you're claiming a refund or your employer didn't
withhold enough ( both highly unusual). You may end up owing
your resident city nothing, but you are still required to file a return. If you live and work in
the same city and your employer did withhold the exact correct amount, you
usually still have to file a return. Some cities, like Cincinnati
& Toledo,
do not require you to file if the exact amount is withheld. Incidentally, employers are only
required to withhold for the work city, although many will voluntarily withhold
for the resident city as well. Employees of most big companies, in Ohio, seldom
owe any city tax, at tax time (but they still have to file a city return),
because the employer holds out exactly the right amount for both work and
resident city, taking into account the credit.
To verify or find
out if you live in a school district or city with an income tax enter your
address at:
http://www.tax.ohio.gov/Individual/LocalTaxInformation.aspx
TurboTax (TT) does not automatically prepare a city return, you
must initiate it. At the screen, in the Ohio
program, titled
"A few things before we wrap up your state taxes"
scroll down to Ohio City
taxes.
Or, later
"Your 2016 Ohio Taxes are ready for us to check"
-Click Other situations
-Scroll down to Ohio City
taxes.
TT cannot e-file an Ohio
City or RITA return. It must be printed and mailed.
I actually find it easier to fill out a city
return by hand or at the city, CCA or RITA web site, than to use TT. Things
don't happen automatically and you need to know what you’re doing. The
actual RITA/city forms are easier to follow than the TT interview.
http://www.ritaohio.com/
http://www.ccatax.ci.cleveland.oh.us/
For a list of all Ohio cities with an
income tax go to
http://www.tax.ohio.gov/municipalities/municipal_income_tax_forms.aspx
from there there’s links
to each city's web site”
