The Ohio Department of Taxation, in cooperation with the IRS and tax prep software vendors, will offer Modernized e-File (MeF) for taxpayers and tax practitioners who have opted to file the 2018 municipal net profit tax return with ODT.

To date, two prominent software vendors have submitted written notice that they intend to include an MeF option for the municipal net profit tax in their 2018 tax preparation software packages. Thomson Reuters will incorporate the municipal tax option in their UltraTax CS product; CCH Incorporated will do so in their CCH ProSystem fx package.

ODT is inviting and encouraging other tax preparation software vendors to consider incorporating MeF for the State-administered municipal net profit tax into their commercial/professional products as well.

More information is available on the department’s website. Testing of products intended for use in the 2018 tax year filing season will begin this fall.

For more information or assistance, call ODT’s Business Tax Division at 844.238.0403 or email [email protected].

If your software vendor’s product is not available for filing on MeF, the Department of Taxation has published ASCII/XML file layouts for the 2018 municipal net profit tax return and declaration of estimated payments for files uploaded through the Ohio Business Gateway (OBG). The layouts and additional information can be found on the Department’s website.

ODT is requesting test files from the municipal net profit tax filing community to ensure that files comply with the file layout. Send test files to [email protected]. ODT said it aims to provide feedback within 2-3 business days after receipt of the file.

Please note that an “Excel to ASCII conversion tool” exists in the ASCII file package. This can be used to generate an ASCII file from a Microsoft Excel worksheet. ODT officials said they will accept ASCII test files using the file generator tool, as well. If you have questions about this process, call ODT’s Business Tax Division at 844.238.0403.