By Rick Palsgrove
Groveport Editor
More than 1,000 Groveport residents will soon receive notice in the mail that they neglected to file a 2021 municipal income tax return with the Regional Income Tax Agency (RITA).
RITA performs collection duties for the city of Groveport’s income tax. The deadline to file a calendar year 2021 tax return for filing was April 15, 2022.
According to information provided by RITA, there are 1,565 failure to file letters being mailed to Groveport taxpayers.
Taxpayers may file their municipal tax return with RITA these ways:
•E-file returns or exemptions at www.ritaohio.com/Individuals/Home/File.
•Fax your return to 440-922-3510.
•Mail your completed return to: RITA, Attention Compliance Department 198, Regional Income Tax Agency, P.O. Box 470538, Broadview Heights, OH 44147-0538.
Additional information can be found at www.ritaohio.com/Individuals/Home/NonFilingNotice or visit the RITA website at www.ritaohio.com.
According to Groveport Finance Director Jason Carr, filing a RITA tax return is mandatory even if the resident has no income.
“Everyone must file regardless if they had earned income for the tax year,” said Carr. “Residents may have received a Non-Filing Income Tax Notice because RITA does not have record of a municipal income tax filing from the resident/business for the tax year(s) listed in the notice. A response is required by the due date stated in the letter in order to avoid the issuance of a subpoena or tax finding based on information supplied by the Internal Revenue Service.”
All city residents age 18 and over, even if they work in another city, and businesses must make a city income tax filing. The municipality where one works receives the income tax. Businesses operating in the city must pay the city’s income tax even if their corporate headquarters are elsewhere.
Residents/businesses may respond to the RITA Notice by either:
•Filing with RITA all requested income tax returns with applicable W-2s, 1099s, Federal Schedules and page 1 of Federal Form 1040 for each tax year listed, or submitting the applicable documentation to RITA with a copy of the Notice so that RITA may prepare your municipal income tax returns; or
•Completing the exemption portion of the Notice indicating why you have not filed a return for the tax year(s) listed. If a return was not filed for any of the reasons listed on the Notice, check the reason that applies and return the form to RITA with any required documentation.
The method for paying municipal income taxes changed in 2018 when the city of Columbus sprung a tax surprise on Groveport and other area suburbs by stating that, as of Jan. 1, 2019, Columbus would no longer collect income taxes for the suburbs.
At the time, Columbus City Auditor Megan Kilgore stated in a letter to Groveport that Columbus would no longer serve as a third party administrator for the collection of municipal income taxes because the task has “grown more difficult, in part due to the state’s recent mandated amendments to municipal income tax provisions…”
Smaller cities traditionally used third party collection of income taxes because it would be costly to maintain their own taxation departments.
In 2018, Groveport City Council approved legislation for the city to join RITA to replace Columbus for income tax collection.
The city of Groveport has a 2 percent income tax and provides a credit up to 2 percent for taxes paid to another municipality.
