News Release
January 09, 2004 -
EMPLOYER ALERT: Richmond Heights Withholding Tax
Correction
COLUMBUS (January 09, 2004)
The Ohio Department of Taxation (ODT) today is alerting
employers with workers living in the Richmond Heights School
District (Cuyahoga County) that there is no
school district income tax in affect in that district, so
there should be no tax withheld for that purpose.
Taxation officials were notified this week (1/5/04) that the
reporting of election results of a tax issue involving the
Richmond Heights School District was incorrect.
ODT received information that Richmond Heights voters had
approved a school district income tax. Voters instead had
approved a property tax. The department had subsequently
published that incorrect information on its web site in
December, along with accurate information on all the other
school districts with an income tax. Employers use that web
data to adjust payroll systems to withhold the tax from
employee wages.
ODT now has the correct information on its web site
(tax.ohio.gov) and has revised school district income tax
withholding notices being mailed out to employers next week.
Interim Tax Commissioner Pat McAndrew said with the annual
mailing of employer withholding forms, all employers will
receive accurate information, "Regrettably, this mix-up in
election reporting is causing inconvenience for some
employers and inappropriate withholding of school district
income tax. I’m confident that employees who had tax wrongly
withheld, will get their money back." McAndrew says ODT is
advising employers who have withheld tax but not remitted it,
to adjust subsequent paychecks to make-up for the
withholding. If employers have already sent the tax to ODT,
they are being asked to call the department at (614) 433-7602
and ask for Jim Baumann, Administrator, Income/Corporation
Franchise Tax Division.
The Richmond Heights School District has about six thousand
residents who potentially may have had tax withheld, but ODT
officials think the number of workers effected will be much
smaller because it’s early in the year.
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(For more information, contact Gary Gudmundson, ODT
Communications Director, at 614/644-6903.)