Electronic Filing - Ohio Department Of Taxation

What Type of Returns Are Allowed?

The Ohio electronic filing program allows full year residents, part year residents and nonresidents to e-File the

Ohio Income Tax Return and the Ohio School District Income Tax Return, unless otherwise disqualified in the list

of „What Type of Returns are Not Allowed‟ below.

Please note that Legacy e-File will only accept one school district return. (For example, a taxpayer cannot file two

part-year school district returns through Legacy.)

Modernized e-File (MeF) will accept an unlimited number of school district returns.

The return(s) may reflect a refund, credit, credit/refund split, balance due, or zero balance.

What Type of Returns Are Not Allowed?

The Ohio electronic filing program does not allow individual taxpayers to file the following types of returns:

Ohio Income Tax Returns (IT 1040 or IT 1040EZ)

amended Ohio individual income tax returns

prior year returns, (MeF will accept 2 prior tax years if previously approved by Ohio), or

returns for fiscal year filers

School District Income Tax Returns (SD 100)

amended Ohio school district income tax returns

prior year returns, (MeF will accept 2 prior tax years if previously approved by Ohio), or

returns for fiscal year filers

What Should I Send to Ohio?

Nothing; however, the department may request a copy of the federal, state or local income tax returns, W-2s or

other wage and withholding statements and approved federal extensions if needed to substantiate line items on

or statements regarding an Ohio individual or school income tax return. To help in this endeavor the MeF plat-

form has the capability of attaching PDF documents to the electronic return, which should greatly reduce the

number of documents you or your client needs to send to the department. In addition, if you submit an Ohio re-

turn electronically without line item substantiation, you will receive an alert message with your acknowledgment

advising you to fax information to the department directly. This will also reduce the number of phone calls or let-

ters sent to your client. The taxpayer should keep all documents for at least four years.

Ohio’s e-File Signature

Ohio has designated the acceptance of the perjury statement as its e-File signature. Therefore, the preparer does

not have to send a copy of the perjury statement to the department as it is part of the electronic return.

Each taxpayer and spouse, if married filing joint, must have knowledge of and accept the perjury statement. A

spouse may accept the perjury statement on behalf of a spouse for the Ohio and, if applicable, the school district

income tax return if the taxpayer has prior authorization from the spouse.

The perjury statement reads as follows:

Under penalties of perjury, I declare that to the best of my knowledge and belief, the Ohio income tax re-

turn and if applicable, the Ohio school district income tax return is true, correct and complete. I also dec-

lare under penalties of perjury that if I am filing a return with my spouse, I am authorized to make this dec-

laration on his/her behalf and to file the return for both of us.

Consistency Checking

Ohio uses a feature of the Federal/State Electronic Filing Program called "consistency checking". The IRS will

verify the federal filing status, the number of exemptions and the federal adjusted gross income on the federal and

Ohio income tax returns. If the consistency checks fail on either the federal or state income tax returns, the IRS

will reject all returns.

Electronic Filing - Ohio Department Of Taxation - 2011 Page 5