Is local income tax the same as a school district tax withhold?

[Hal_Al]

Maybe. The term "local income tax", in Ohio, applies to either City income tax or  school district (SD) income tax.

If you have local withholding in box 19 of your W-2, box 20 should identify the locality (city or SD) that the tax was withheld for. If you have any doubt, ask you employer.

Some 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.

School Districts are different. Only school district residents file a return &  pay the tax. Non residents who work within a taxing SD are not subject to withholding, unless they also live there.

To 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

[FrankF1]

No, if you are an Ohio resident, those are two separate items. The local tax withheld is for your city tax and is withheld by the city of regional taxing authority. It is withheld for persons working in the city, and taxpayers file a tax return where they live. You may also have to file a non-resident return if you conduct a trade or business, or have a rental property in a non-resident city.

Ohio SD-100 is used to report Ohio school district income tax return. As opposed to local income tax authorities in Ohio such as RITA and CCA that collect city tax, the school district income tax is included with your Ohio return.

Only certain school districts in Ohio impose this tax. Check the list from the State of Ohio at http://www.tax.ohio.gov/Portals/0/tax_analysis/tax_data_series/school_district_data/SDIT_LIST.pdf

If you are not subject to the school district income tax, you may have to file Form SD-100 to get a refund.

You can get more information about Ohio school district tax at http://www.tax.ohio.gov/faq.aspx - in the category, scroll down to find "School District - General"

Generally, unless you live in a township you need to file a city tax return with the city or village you live in. If you conduct a trade or business, or have a rental property in a non-resident city, you also need to file a tax return for that city in addition to your resident city.

A link to cities in Ohio with tax filing requirements is available from the Ohio Department of Taxation at http://www.tax.ohio.gov/municipalities/municipal_income_tax_forms.aspx