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Desktop: Ohio Regional Income Tax Return (RITA)

RITA

Who must file

An Ohio Regional Income Tax Return (Form 37) must be filed by:

  • Resident individuals of a RITA Municipality who are 18 years of age and older, even if no tax is due;
  • Nonresidents of a RITA Municipality who have earned income from a RITA municipality that is not subject to employer withholding, or if the employer did not fully withhold for the municipality of employment;
  • Nonresidents of a RITA Municipality who earned non-wage income within a RITA municipality;
  • Nonresidents of a RITA Municipality who conduct business in a RITA municipality, even if no tax is due.

The filer may owe municipal income tax to the municipality where they lived (their "resident" municipality) as well as to the municipality where they worked or conducted business.

Overview

Preparing Form 37 requires completing at a minimum two sections and if needed any of up to three schedules and six worksheets.

  • Section A: Lists all W-2 wages and W-2G winnings and the local/city tax withheld while living in a RITA municipality.
  • Section B: Calculates the RITA income tax due. All the results from all the other worksheets and schedules ultimately flow here.
  • Schedule J: Summary of income/loss not in Section A, allocated to the municipality(s) where earned.
  • Schedule K
    • Line 34: Calculates tax due on W-2 wages earned in a RITA municipality other than the residence municipality and from which no municipal income tax was withheld by the employer.
    • Line 35: Calculates tax due on W-2 wages earned in a non-RITA municipality, from which no municipal income tax was withheld by the employer, but which the taxpayer filed and paid the tax due to the municipality.
  • Schedule P (feeds Worksheet L, Row P and Schedule J, Line 26, Column 7): Summary of pass-through income/loss earned in RITA taxing municipalities other than the resident municipality.
  • Credit Rate Worksheet: Calculates the credit available, if any, for workplace tax withheld on wages earned outside of the resident municipality.
  • Worksheet L (feeds Credit Rate Worksheet and Schedule K, Line 36): For RITA municipality residents and part-year residents only, this worksheet is used if there are gains and/or losses in more than one municipality. The worksheet allocates the gains and losses to compute tax due and calculate potential credit for tax paid to other municipalities.
  • Worksheet R (feeds Form 37, Section B, Line 7b): For a RITA municipality resident with pass-through income in their RITA resident municipality, this worksheet calculates the credit for tax paid by the pass-through entity to the resident municipality.
  • Worksheet 1 (feeds Section B, Line 20a): Calculates estimated tax for both RITA municipality residents and nonresidents.
  • Resident Municipality Loss Carryforward Worksheet: Calculates the allowable prior year loss carryforward.
  • Workplace Loss Carryforward Worksheet: Calculates the net loss from prior years that is available to offset current year income. (A NOL carryforward in a workplace municipality can only offset a gain within the same workplace municipality.)

Schedule P, Worksheets L, R, and 1, and the two Loss Carryforward Worksheets are not available in TaxSlayer Pro, though the program includes specific places at which their results can be entered. All but Worksheet 1 are included in the 3-page Form 37. Worksheet 1 is included in the Form 37 Instructions. Both Form 37 and the Instructions can be downloaded from the RITA website here.

Additional worksheets you will have to create from scratch as needed:

  • If the taxpayer resided in more than two locations during the year, a schedule is needed listing the additional locations and the effective dates for each.
  • If the taxpayer moved between one RITA municipality and another, Schedule J needs to be augmented with a worksheet that allocates the non-wage income to the municipality in which it was earned or received along with the effective dates of the allocation.
  • Other Income reported on Schedule J Line 25 needs to be listed in a separate schedule describing the source of the income as well as the municipality to which it applies.

Note: The RITA return cannot be e-filed. It will not piggyback on the e-filed Ohio tax return.

Creating the RITA return

To start Form 37 Ohio Regional Income Tax Return, from the Main Menu of the Ohio state return select:

  • Ohio City Main Menu
  • Ohio Regional Income Tax Return - You will be asked if you'd like to complete OH Form 37. Select Yes.
  • Select the residency status appropriate for this situation:
    • Full-year: The taxpayer lived in one or more RITA municipalities for all the tax year.
    • Part-year: The taxpayer lived in a RITA municipality for part of the tax year.
    • Non-resident: The taxpayer did not live in a RITA municipality for any part of the tax year.

Pull W-2 and W-2G information

Pull the W-2 and W-2G information from the federal return into the RITA return:

  • Select 8. Synchronize With Federal Return then Yes when prompted.
  • Again select 8. Synchronize With Federal Return then No when prompted.

Note: For W-2 and W-2G info to pull, the locality information fields must have been completed.

Heading Information

Residency Status - Displays the residency status that you selected when you created the RITA return.

Extension - If a federal extension has been filed, or if Form 32-EXT has been filed, change this line from No to Yes.

Note: If a federal extension has been filed, the municipal income tax return is automatically extended and a separate municipal extension (Form 32-EXT) is not needed.

Amended - If you are amending a previously filed RITA return, change this line from No to Yes.

May RITA discuss return with preparer? - Select Yes or No.

Physical Addresses During 20xx - Enter the physical address where the taxpayer resided at the beginning of the year in Physical Address #1. If they moved during the year, enter the next address in Physical Address #2.If the taxpayer lived in more than two locations during the year, attach a separate sheet listing the additional location(s) and effective dates for each. Important points about this section:

  • The physical address may or may not be in the same municipality as the mailing address.
  • If the taxpayer moved out of a RITA municipality with no intent to return, and the current mailing address is their address of record, enter that address and include with the return supporting documentation with regard to the relocation along with the reason for the change.

Total Taxable Income

W-2 Wages/W-2G Winnings (Section A) - Section A must be completed by residents and part-year residents of a RITA municipality who received a W-2 or W-2G. Nonresidents should also fill out section A for wages earned in the RITA municipality from which their employer did not withhold all of the RITA municipality tax due.

W-2s and W-2Gs pulled from the Federal return (in the synchronization step above) are listed here. Edit each entry, adding the following:

  • For a W-2, the date range during which the wages were earned.
  • For a W-2G, the date of winning.
  • The municipality of the physical workplace and the municipality of the taxpayer's physical residence.

Note that workplace and resident municipality information can't be assumed from the taxpayer's address on the Federal return as well as the addresses shown on the W-2 or W-2G.

Note: Correct spelling is important to ensure the correct tax rate is used, so to avoid misspelling the municipality name it's best to choose from the list of municipalities when prompted.

Other Taxable Income (Schedule J) - Schedule J is for reporting net income/loss on Federal Schedules C, E, and F as well as many other miscellaneous income items. Additionally, residents of a RITA municipality should report pass-through income from a partnership, S corp, or trust in their RITA resident municipality. (Nonresidents do not report pass-through income here.) Refer to RITA for a list of income that is considered taxable and non-taxable here.

Schedule J contains six columns used to apportion the income as needed between the resident RITA municipality, the total of all non-taxing municipalities, and up to four other municipalities whether RITA or non-RITA. (TaxSlayer Pro provides entry points for three other municipalities rather than four.)

Included in the menus for the other three RITA and/or non-RITA municipalities is a menu item to enter income From Federal Schedule E Part/S-Corp/Trust Income(Loss). If you are preparing Schedule P outside of TaxSlayer Pro, the amount here is equal to Schedule P Line 26d for the same column.

Tax Rate

To override the calculated tax rate, select Tax Rate, answer Yes to the override question, and select the municipality. After having done this, if you wish to revert back to the calculated tax rate, select Tax Rate and answer No to the override question.

Total Credits Allowable

W-2 Local/City Tax Withheld for Workplace Municipality (Section A) - This line recaps the amount of workplace municipality tax withheld from the W-2s and W-2Gs that were entered in Section A.

Direct Payment (Schedule K) - Items for Schedule K Lines 34 and 35 can be entered here, along with the tax due on non-W-2 workplace income as calculated on Schedule L.

Total Tentative Credits - Items for the Credit Rate Worksheet can be entered here, along with the credit for taxes paid to other municipalities as calculated on Schedule L.

Tax Withheld for Resident Municipality - This line recaps the amount of residence municipality tax withheld from the W-2s and W-2Gs that were entered in Section A.

Tax Paid by your Partnership/S Corp to RITA - If the credit for tax paid by a pass-through entity to the resident's RITA municipality was calculated on Worksheet R, enter the amount of the calculated credit here.

Tax Due After Withholding

Tax on Non-Withheld Wages (Schedule K) - This line recaps the amount of tax due on W-2 wages earned in a RITA municipality other than the taxpayer's residence municipality as calculated on Schedule K.

Tax on Schedule J Income (Schedule J) - This line recaps the amount of tax due on non-W-2 income earned in non-resident municipalities as calculated on Schedule J.

Total Due

Estimated Payments Made in 20xx - If any estimated payments were made to RITA in the current year, whether by phone, by mail, in person, or at the RITA MyAccount online, enter the total here. Do not include tax withheld from W-2s or W-2Gs.

Credit Carried Forward from 20xx - If any credit from the prior year is available, enter the total here. Whether or not any credit is available can be verified at the RITA MyAccount online or by contacting RITA.

Amount Credited Toward 20xx Estimated Tax - If the return results in an overpayment of RITA tax, the amount can either be refunded or applied to next year's estimated tax. (Overpayments can't be split to both a refund and estimated tax.) To indicated that the overpayment should be applied to the next year's estimated tax, select this line and answer Yes to the question.

Estimated Tax for 20xx - If the taxpayer anticipates owing $200 or more in municipal income tax next year, you must include an estimate of next year's tax liability on this line. RITA suggests using the amount of tax due this year, if any, as an estimate for next year, or you can use Worksheet 1 in the Form 37 instructions to calculate an estimate.

Full or 1/4 20xx Estimated Tax - An estimate entered on the previous line above will also be entered here. To pay 1/4 of that with the return, select this line and answer Yes to the confirmation question.

TaxSlayer Pro will calculate the Total Due based on the above entries. If the result is negative, then, of course, nothing is due.

Synchronize With Federal Return

Synchronizing is ideally the first step at this menu. To pull W-2 and W-2G amounts from the Federal return into Section A of the RITA return, select this line and answer Yes when prompted. After synchronizing, each line in Section A will need to be edited to add workplace municipality, residence municipality, and date information so that the municipal income tax can calculate properly. To open up Section A for editing, select Synchronize With Federal Return again and answer No when prompted.

Exempt From Filing Form 37

Select this line to file an Individual Declaration of Exemption. If filing the Ohio tax return MFJ, select either Taxpayer or Spouse to indicate whose name prints first on the declaration. Select the appropriate reason(s) for exemption in the menu provided.

Additional Information:

RITA website

The Finder: Ohio Municipality information search tool

Disclaimer

While TaxSlayer Pro strives to make the information and links contained on this page as timely and accurate as possible, TaxSlayer Pro makes no promise or guarantee about the timeliness, accuracy or completeness of the contents of this page. The information contained on this page is for general information and is not intended to be tax advice. The user is also encouraged to review the RITA resources and publications, which are both helpful and authoritative.