Tax Year Prior to 2020: reciprocal states

[Jenm]

Hello there.

I live in Kentucky but work in Ohio.  I want to verify that I do not need to file in Ohio.  In the beginning under personal information, do I really enter no when asked if I made income in another state?  Even though I did?  

Also, I already paid for two states and completed both ohio and kentucky.  If I do not need to file in ohio, how do I handle this?

THANK YOU!!!

[KarenL]

That's correct.  As long as you don't have Ohio taxes withheld from your pay, there is no need to file an Ohio tax return.  Also, yes, you would say No to the question about earning income in two states.  

If you don't need to file in Ohio to try to get a refund of taxes paid, then you will need to contact TurboTax Suport to ask about the fact that you paid for two states.  Unfortunately, that is not something we can help you with in this public community forum.  Use this link to get the appropriate phone number for TurboTax Support. 

[Jenm]

Thank you!!! On my w2, the only state tax is from Kentucky, so it looks as though I'm all good.  There is however tax paid to the local municipality that was taken out.  Am I able to get credit for that in anyway?

Thank you again, this was super helpful.

[KarenL]

You're very welcome! 

Unfortunately, you cannot get those local taxes back from the municipality by filing an Ohio tax return.  

That said, you may get some credit for them on the federal side.  Since it's included in your W-2 entries, it is automatically transferred to Schedule A.  If it benefits you, and you itemize, it will be there.  What that means is your Itemized Deductions must be larger than the Standard Deduction for your filing status ($24,000 if Married Filing Joint, $18.000 of Head of Household, or $12,000 if Single)

This is how the local taxes work:  If you itemize deductions on Schedule A you can take a deduction for state and local income tax paid or state sales tax paid. Whichever is larger.  You can compute the amount of sales tax by adding up your receipts for the year or by using a table provided by the IRS. In addition to this base amount you can deduct sales tax paid on large purchases such as a car, truck, boat, etc. 

[Bees]

Unsure, but there does seem to be a process for refunds for out of area non-residents to request a refund. Ask your HR person if you can choose to not have the city tax deducted. Here is link to city tax dept https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/finance/frequently-asked-questions/

[Hal_Al]

In the personal info section, when it asks if you made money in another state, answer NO, per the reciprocal state instructions, on that page. This will prevent TurboTax from thinking you need to file an OH return.

However the reciprocity agreement does not apply to local city taxes. You are not required to file a Ohio local city return, but you are also not entitled to a refund of the city withholding (box19 on your W-2), unless there was an error in the amount. If you are subject to a KY county or city tax, you should check to see if the KY city will give you a credit for the OH city tax withheld. KY does allow an itemized deduction (Schedule A) for local tax paid.