COVID-19 Operational Impacts
The current public health emergency surrounding COVID-19 will likely impact the Division's operations. We anticipate that as the upcoming weeks evolve, we will have further updates on impacts to our operations, filing deadlines, and payment processing. All updates sent via our email distribution list will be posted on this page.
Deadline Extension FAQ published (April 1)
The Division has compiled a list of questions and answers regarding the filing deadline extension. This resource is available in the Forms section of our website and has been added as an appendix to the instructions for each impacted form.
City of Columbus Extends Tax Filing Deadline to July 15 (March 31)
In line with guidance issued by the IRS and Ohio Department
of Taxation, the City of Columbus deadline to file and pay city income tax will
be extended to July 15. City returns are normally due April 15.
H.B. 197, passed by the Ohio General Assembly last week and
signed by Governor Mike DeWine on Friday, waives interest charges on payments
made during the extension. The city will not assess penalty amounts on payments
during the extension.
The filing extension and waiver of penalty and interest will
apply to individuals filing the Columbus individual income tax and businesses
filing municipal net profit returns for tax year 2019. Individuals and
businesses required to make quarterly estimated payments will also have
additional time to make first and second quarter payments. Payments normally
due on April 15 and June 15 will now be due on July 15.
The filing extension does not apply to employer deposits of
withholding or returns for hotel/motel/short-term rental tax or admissions tax.
We will post further guidelines to our website this week.
Columbus Temporarily Suspends Collection Activity on City Debt (posted March 25)
The Division of Income Tax will suspend forwarding new cases to the City Attorney's Office for filing in small claims court and will not mail new bills or audit letters to individual or business taxpayers for at least 30 days. Those who are on an existing payment plan for City-related debts will
still be expected to follow their repayment plans. Individuals who cannot make
payments due to COVID-19-related hardship should contact their collection
agency and request to temporarily discontinue payments. The City Attorney’s
Office will reassess the state of collections again in 30 days.
Division of Income Tax closed during State of Emergency (posted March 18)
The City of Columbus is currently under a Mayor’s State of
Emergency, and the Division of Income Tax is closed for the duration of this
emergency. During this time, our staff will not be available to respond to
phone or email inquiries. Normal customer service operations will resume when
the State of Emergency is lifted.
During the State of Emergency, you can still make payments
online via our Payment Portal and EasyFile applications. You may experience
delays in payment processing.
The Division asks that taxpayers who wish to mail in a
return or payment wait until the State of Emergency has been lifted to do so.
During the State of Emergency, no notices, bills, or audit
letters will be mailed.