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                                                                                                                                                                                              WH 1
                                                                                                                                                                                              Rev. 12/17

                                                    Ohio Employer Withholding Tax
                                                           General Guidelines
Who Must Register                                                                                                              6. Services not in the course of the employer’s trade or business 
All employers maintaining an office or transacting business in Ohio                                                             to the extent paid in any medium other than cash; OR 
and required to withhold federal income tax must register by one                                                               7. Residents of Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia or Penn-
of these three ways:                                                                                                            sylvania, due to reciprocal agreements with Ohio. 

By Internet: Register online through the Ohio Business Gateway                                                                 Who Is an Employee for Withholding Purposes 
(OBG) at   business.ohio.gov and follow the instructions for Ohio                                                              Every individual who performs services subject to either the con-
Taxation – New Account Registration; OR                                                                                        trol and/or will of an employer, whether as to what shall be done 
By Telephone: Call 1-888-405-4089, listen for the message and                                                                  and/or how it shall be done, is an employee for purposes of Ohio 
then press 2 to connect with an agent; OR                                                                                      income tax. It does not matter that the employer permits the em-
                                                                                                                               ployee considerable discretion and freedom of action, so long as 
By Paper: Complete Ohio IT 1, Application for Registration as an                                                               the employer has the legal right to control either the method and/
Ohio Withholding Agent, and mail it to the address shown on the                                                                or result of the services. 
form or fax it to us at (614) 387-2165. 
                                                                                                                               All employees, except residents of Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, 
An Ohio withholding account number will be assigned to new with-                                                               West Virginia or Pennsylvania, who work in and/or perform personal 
holding agents after registration. All forms and correspondence                                                                services in Ohio are subject to withholding of Ohio income tax to the 
must reflect this account number.                                                                                              extent of compensation paid for their services in Ohio. 

The information required for registration includes:                                                                            Returns and Forms That Must Be Filed:
1. FEIN;                                                                                                                        
2. Type of business and business code;                                                                                         Ohio Withholding Exemption Certificate:                        Each employee must 
3. Date payroll anticipated;                                                                                                   complete an Ohio IT 4, Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate, 
4. Name;                                                                                                                       or the employer shall withhold tax from the employee’s compensation 
5. Trade name, if any;                                                                                                         without exemption.
6. Business address and/or mailing address;
7. Ohio liquor permit number (if applicable); AND                                                                              Ohio Withholding Tax Returns: Effective Jan. 1, 2015, in accor-
8. Name(s) and title(s) of the individual(s) responsible for filing                                                            dance with Ohio Administrative Code rule 5703-7-19, employers 
 returns and making payment of Ohio withholding tax.                                                                           are required to file state and school district income tax withholding 
                                                                                                                               returns and make payment of the withheld taxes through the OBG.
All employers liable for withholding Ohio income tax must register 
within 15 days of the date that such liability begins.                                                                         Employers subject to withholding must make payments in the 
                                                                                                                               amounts required to be withheld. The withholding tax forms that 
Who Must Withhold                                                                                                              you file are based on your filing frequency. Monthly and quarterly 
Every employer maintaining an office or transacting business within                                                            filers remit state income tax withholding payments on OBG using 
the state of Ohio and making payment of any compensation to an                                                                 Ohio IT 501. Employers who have been approved under the opt out 
employee, whether a resident or nonresident, must withhold Ohio                                                                provision to file paper state income tax withholding returns, remit 
income tax.                                                                                                                    withholding tax payments using Ohio IT 501, mailed to the Ohio 
                                                                                                                               Department of Taxation with remittance made payable to the Ohio 
Withholding is not required if the compensation is paid for or to:                                                             Treasurer of State. Partial-weekly filers are required to pay withheld 
1. Agricultural labor as defined in Division G of Section 3121 of                                                              taxes by EFT and do not file or send in the Ohio IT 501. 
 Title 26 of the United States Code; 
2. Domestic service in a private home, local college club, or local                                                            Filing Frequency: An employer’s filing and payment frequency for 
 chapter of a college fraternity or sorority;                                                                                  state income tax withholding is determined each calendar year by the 
3. Service performed in any calendar quarter by an employee un-                                                                combined amount of state and school district taxes that were with-
 less the cash remuneration paid for such service is $300 or more                                                              held or required to be withheld during the 12-month period ending 
 and such service is performed by an individual who is regularly                                                               June 30 of the preceding calendar year (i.e., the “look-back” period).
 employed by such employer to perform such service.                                                                            Quarterlypaymentsmust be remitted with Ohio IT 501 on OBG by 
4. Services performed for a foreign government or international                                                                the last day of the month following the end of each calendar quarter, 
 organization;                                                                                                                 if the combined amount of taxes that were withheld or required to be 
5. Services performed by an individual under the age of 18 in the                                                              withheld was $2,000 or less during the look-back period. Employers 
 delivery or distribution of newspapers or shopping news, not                                                                  who registered on or after July 1 of the preceding calendar year will 
 including delivery or distribution to any point for subsequent                                                                also remit quarterly, unless notified otherwise.  
 delivery or distribution or when performed by such individual 
 under the age of 18 under an arrangement where newspapers                                                                     Monthlypaymentsmust be remitted with Ohio IT 501 on OBG within 
 or magazines are to be sold by him at a fixed price, his com-                                                                 15 days following the end of each month, if the combined amount of 
 pensation being based on the retention of the excess of such                                                                  taxes that were withheld or required to be withheld was greater than 
 price over the amount at which newspapers or magazines are                                                                    $2,000 but less than $84,000 during the look-back period.
 charged to him; 
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                                                                                                                                                WH 1
                                                                                                                                                Rev. 12/17
Partial-weekly         payments must be remitted by EFT within three    marked “CORRECTED BY EMPLOYER” and one copy should 
banking days from the end of each partial-weekly period in which        be submitted to the Ohio Department of Taxation and two copies 
the employer had payroll, if the combined amount of taxes that were     to the employee. If the W-2 or 1099-R is lost or destroyed, one 
withheld or required to be withheld was $84,000 or more during the      must be submitted to the Ohio of Department of Taxation marked 
look-back period.                                                       “REISSUED BY EMPLOYER and two copies to the employee. 
                                                                       2. Over- or under-withholding – quarterly, monthly (Ohio IT 501) 
There are two partial-weekly withholding periods each week that         and partial-weekly (Ohio IT 942) filers. 
consists of a consecutive Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday          a. If the error is discovered in a subsequent period of the same 
or a consecutive Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  A partial-weekly         calendar year, make the adjustment by reducing or increasing 
withholding period cannot extend from one year into the next.              the tax due on your next Ohio IT 501 or EFT payment. 
                                                                        b. If the error is discovered after the annual reconciliation Ohio 
Also, partial-weekly filers must file the Ohio IT 942, Ohio Employer’s 
                                                                           IT 941 has been filed, complete an amended reconciliation, 
Quarterly Reconciliation of Income Tax Withheld, for each calendar 
                                                                           through OBG for that year. For EFT filers, file an amended 
quarter on OBG. The form is due no later than the last day of the 
                                                                           Ohio IT 942, Ohio Employer’s EFT 4th Quarter/Annual Rec-
month following the end of each calendar quarter.
                                                                           onciliation of Income Tax Withheld, through OBG. 
Note: If the tax withheld by an employer during a pay period reaches           
$100,000 or more, payment of the accumulated taxes (excluding          Employer’s Liability for Withheld Tax 
payment of school district income taxes) is due by the first banking   Each withholding agent is liable for the tax required to be withheld. 
day after the pay date on which the accumulated taxes equal or         For purposes of assessment and collection, amounts required to be 
exceed $100,000. If the employer is a partial-weekly filer, payment    withheld and paid to the Ohio Department of Taxation are considered 
must be made by EFT.                                                   to be a tax on the employer. The officer or the employee having 
                                                                       control or supervision of or charged with the responsibility of filing 
Ohio Annual Return                                                     the report and making payment shall be held personally liable for 
1. To Employees (W-2 or 1099-R). On or before Jan. 31 of the suc-      any failure to file the report and/or pay the tax as required by law. 
ceeding calendar year, an employer required to withhold shall 
furnish to all employees on whom tax was or should have been           Interest and Penalties 
withheld, two copies of the report of compensation paid during the     If an employer fails to pay the tax deducted and withheld from em-
calendar year and of the amount deducted and withheld as tax.          ployees by the due date, interest shall accrue on the unpaid tax at 
Employers may use federal W-2 or 1099-R.                               the rate provided for under Ohio Revised Code section 5703.47. 
2. To the Ohio Department of Taxation (Ohio IT 941). An employer       Interest on the tax due is charged in addition to any penalty that 
who is required to remit quarterly or monthly shall file the Ohio IT   may be incurred for late filing and/or late payment of a tax due. 
941, Ohio Employer’s Annual Reconciliation of Income Tax With-
                                                                       If an employer fails to pay the tax deducted and withheld from 
held, no later than the last day of the month following the end of 
                                                                       employees’ compensation by the due date, a penalty of 50% may 
the calendar year. 
                                                                       be assessed on the tax due, unless it is shown the failure was for 
3. To the Ohio Department of  Taxation (Ohio IT 942). An employer 
                                                                       reasonable cause and not willful neglect. 
who is required to remit partial-weekly shall file the Ohio IT 942, 
Ohio Employer’s EFT 4th Quarter/Annual Reconciliation of Income        If a return, or the Ohio IT 501, IT 941, IT 942 or IT 3 is not filed, 
Tax Withheld, no later than the last day of the month following the    or is filed after the due date, the penalty is the greater of: $50 per 
end of the calendar year. The Ohio IT 942 is filed on OBG. EFT         month up to a maximum of $500 or 5% per month up to a maximum 
filers do not file the Ohio IT 941.                                    of 50% of the tax due. 
4. To the Ohio Department of Taxation (Ohio IT 3). An employer 
required to withhold shall file on or before the last day of January   What Records To Keep 
of the succeeding calendar year the Ohio IT 3, Transmittal of          Every employer required to withhold Ohio income tax is required to 
Wage and Tax Statements. Employers are no longer required to           maintain accuraterecordsof all persons from whom tax is collected 
send us paper copies of the federal W-2. If the information is not     for a period of four years from the due date. 
submitted electronically, the Ohio Department of Taxation may re-
quest W-2s periodically when conducting compliance programs.           Records must include: 
If you elect to send your state W-2 information to us on magnetic      1. Amounts and dates of all compensation paid and taxes withheld 
media, you must comply using an approved format. Employers              by pay period.
with 250 or more W-2 Copy A forms must file them electronically        2. Names, addresses, school district of residence, principal county 
using the EFW2 format. Electronic format information is also            of employment (nonresidents)and SSNs of all employees            receiv-
available on the department’s Web site at tax.ohio.gov.                 ing compensation. 
                                                                       3. Periods of employment, including periods during which compen-
Corrections                                                             sation is paid whileabsentdue to sickness or injury. 
1. To Employee and the Ohio Department of Taxation (W-2 or             4. Copies of the Ohio IT 501, IT 941, IT 942 and IT 3 filed with the 
1099-R). An employer must furnish a corrected W-2 or 1099-R             Ohio Department of Taxation.
if, after the original form has been given to an employee, an          5. W-2s and 1099-Rs.
error is discovered. Corrected statements should be clearly 

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