Technically you are required to file an Ohio non resident return for that income. But "nobody" does. See http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/28/pf/taxes/business-traveler-tax-threat/ If you live in a state without an income tax (e.g. TX), it’s more likely you should file in the work states. You can't
use the "it all comes out even" rationale for not filing.
In TurboTax (TT), you will be asked, in the personal info section, if you made money in another state. Answer yes and this will get TT to generate the OH software.
Be advised that Ohio does a convoluted tax calculation for non-residents/part year
residents. It calculates tax on total income, then it calculates a non
resident/part year resident credit, which it subtracts from the tax it
calculated on the total income. The credit is calculated as your non-Ohio
income divided by Total adjusted Income multiplied by the total tax. TurboTax
(TT) does this by allocating your income as either Ohio or non-Ohio. W-2
income will be allocated by the state name abbreviation shown in box 15 of your W-2. TT
will ask you, item by item, in the state section, how much of your other income
is Ohio or
non-Ohio income. Make sure that your non-Ohio wages show TX (Other state postal abbreviation) in box 15 of your W-2 screen, with the TX amount
in box 16.
Since TX does not have an income tax, boxes 15-17 may be blank on your
actual W-2. At the W-2 screen, in TT, enter TX in box 15. Put the box 1 amount in box 16
and 0 in box 17.
This system allows Ohio
to apply their highest tax rate, based on your total income, while only taxing
your Ohio
income. The Ohio filing requirement** is based on your total income, not just the $2000 you earned there.
** $13,200
($15,550 Married filing jointly or $10,850 if you are someone's dependent).
