I have an additional 2017 Ohio 1099-G with the refund being for tax year 2013. What do I enter in the box entitled "Total of all your payments and withholding?" Zero?

[KrisD · Accepted solution]

The software is asking for the payments and withholding you made to the state of Ohio in tax year 2013. The reason is this: If you took the tax as a deduction in one year, and then get that tax BACK, you may need to pay tax on that as income. 

The software is asking to determine if the refund is taxable on your 2017 return. If the refund is from your 2013 return and you used the standard deduction, it is not taxable. If you itemized, but took the state and local sales tax as a deduction, rather than the state and local income tax, the refund is not taxable. If you did itemize and took state and local income tax as a deduction on your schedule A, and now you have a refund of that tax, it may be taxable. If this is the situation you are in, the software needs to know the withholding and any other payments you made to the taxing authority (in your case the state) on your 2013 Federal Tax return. If you only paid one taxing authority (the state of Ohio), you can find this information on your Schedule A line 5a. If you paid more than one government, such as the state and a county, or several states, you will need to look at your tax documents to see who you paid what. Again, if the 2013 Schedule A has line 5b, rather than 5a, the state refund is not taxable. 

[BarneyB]

Thanks!