Tax Year 2020 - Do my state taxes in OH conform to the new federal guidelines, such as filing my taxes based on 2019 due to no income in 2020?

[mswgu2020]

While calculating my state refund, turbo tax states I qualify for a Ohio EIC in  the amount of $1,234, but upon completion of state worksheet, I have no refund.

[JoannaB2]

It depends. The earned income credit is based on the income earned for the year. You must have income to receive earned income tax credit.  However, there are some federal rulings that State of Ohio conformed such as Covid-19 Tax Relief.  The Ohio IT1040 has refundable credits and non-refundable credits (Schedule E of Ohio IT 1040).

See, Ohio IT 1040 schedule of refundable and non-refundable tax credits, link

[Hal_Al]

For the Earned Income Credit, Ohio conforms to the Federal Covid rules. That is, if your federal EIC is based on 2019 Earned income, rather than 2020 income, your Ohio EIC will also be based on 2019 income. 

Technically, the Ohio EIC is a straight forward percentage of the federal EIC (usually 30%, but less for higher income people).

The most likely reason you're not getting a refund on the Ohio return is that Ohio's EIC is non refundable.  That is, it can only be used to lower you Ohio income tax.  Once your tax gets to zero, the rest of the Ohio EIC is NOT refunded to you.

[mswgu2020]

thank you for explaining that! Had no idea...usually am not looking into my taxes this in depth, but seeing how it has been almost 12 weeks without a refund now, I have become somewhat of an expert from all the posts  have read!