overpayment of municipal local tax to OH and residing in PA

[Pittsburgh82]

I worked in Ohio for entire year 2024 and I resided in Pennsylvania for entire year of 2024.  My employer withheld local taxes for the municipality I worked in OH, and resided in PA.  I believe I am due a credit but turbo tax is requesting I report the amount listed in box 16 on my W2.  My PA W2 lists income but my OH W2 is blank.  How do I proceed to file for credit?

[MaryK4]

You should check with your employer if Ohio local taxes were withheld- if there are none listed on your Ohio W2 but local taxes on your Pennsylvania tax return, they may have paid local taxes to your Pennsylvania resident location.

[Pittsburgh82]

MaryK4,

Thank you for your response.  I was able to confirm that my OH local taxes were indeed withheld by my employer.  I also spoke to the local OH taxing authority and they told me they had been paid in 2023 and if my 2024 W2 reflects the same, they will by paid for 2024.  However there there are no refunds made on local taxes.  I am able to use the over payment to seek a credit up to the same dollar amount of tax paid locally.  To do so, I was once again instructed to use the dollar figure located in box 16 of my OH W2, of which there is nothing marked on my OH W2 box 16.  However there is a dollar figure in box 16 of my PA W2.  My local form for PA says to list the result of the OH local tax worksheet which also reference using OH W2 box 16.  Are you able to suggest how I should handle this?  I have run out of places that I know to ask about this,  Do you have any additional suggestions or where I can seek additional tax help?

[KrisD15]

Just to clarify your situation, 

You live in PA but work in OH

Those states have reciprocal agreements, so you should only be paying state tax to the state in which you live, PA

If you work in a locality that taxes, you would be liable for that local tax since most local taxing authorities do not abide by the reciprocal agreement made between the states. 

Do you also owe local PA tax to a locality in which you work? 

Are you asking how to get a credit for the OH local tax you paid? 

A credit for local PA tax or something else? 

[Pittsburgh82]

KrisD15,

Thanks for responding.  How do I get a credit for OH local taxes?

My PA local withholdings match my 1% local tax obligation where I reside.  I was taxed 1.5% by OH locality where I worked.  Am I misunderstanding that my OH payment is not creditable to my PA obligation?  Everything I have read indicates that my OH local tax will offset my PA local tax up to the point of my obligation to PA.  Can you tell me how to file to achieve this?

[KrisD15]

Yes, it's true that some local governments do give credit for local tax paid somewhere else. 

TurboTax does some local tax returns, but not all. 

If it looks like TurboTax will figure the credit for you, enter the full wage income for Box 16 if that's what it's asking for. 

As long as the program doesn't act like you owe Ohio tax, you should be good. 

Let us know how that works out.