Reminder: Dec. 15 muni tax payment deadline drawing near

OSCPA staff report

If it seems like the Dec. 15 due date for municipal 4th quarter estimated tax payments is arriving quickly, it’s because it is – and it’s because it’s nearly seven weeks earlier than in previous years. The change was a provision of House Bill 5, Ohio’s municipal income tax reform bill.

This deadline applies to any individuals, corporations, S-corporations, partnerships, LLCs and trusts making estimated payments. That provision requires every taxpayer of these types with an annual tax liability of $200 or more – withholding excepted – to report and pay estimated taxes by the 15th day of the fourth, sixth, ninth and 12th months of a taxable year.

The change was included in HB 5 as a compromise to several Ohio cities, who feared losses from the soon-to-be-implemented five-year Net Operating Loss requirement set to take effect Jan. 1, 2017.

For calendar year taxpayers, those dates are April 15, June 15, Sept. 15 and – in the only change that differs from the state’s deadline – Dec. 15. (See chart below.)

As before, the payments cities may require may not exceed 22.5%, 45%, 67.5%, and 90%, respectively, of taxpayers’ estimated annual liability.