News Release
February 11, 2008 - Ohio Offers
Speedy New Way to File Income Tax Returns
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Income tax filing season is
again underway in Ohio – and with the new season comes yet
another way for Ohio taxpayers to cut through the red tape
and get a state income tax refund fast.
New for this year is eForms, a new electronic
tax return filing service rolled out this year by the Ohio
Department of Taxation that may be the first of its kind in
the nation. It supplements I-File,
an electronic tax return filing system the department has
offered since 2001.
Both eForms and I-File
are free. Both allow taxpayers to submit a state income tax
return directly to the department at
tax.ohio.gov.
The key difference is the interface. I-File
relies largely on a “wizard” that builds a return for
taxpayers by asking a series of questions about W-2s,
dependents and other information.
Through eForms, taxpayers may complete online
versions of major state income tax forms, just as they have
done for years with pen and paper. The eForms are Adobe
Acrobat files that will compute most of the math
automatically for taxpayers. Once the forms are complete,
taxpayers may print them, save them to their hard drive, or
submit them directly to the department by clicking “send.”
“We’ve had tremendous response to I-File
since it was introduced. But we also recognize some taxpayers
like working directly with tax forms the old-fashioned way,”
Tax Commissioner Richard A. Levin said. “Through eForms, we are offering the best of both worlds: tax
forms that taxpayers are familiar with, and yet another way
to cut to the front of the line and get a refund fast.”
Filing a tax return electronically is the single fastest way
to get a state income tax refund in Ohio. For taxpayers who
file electronically, refunds are usually available by
electronic deposit within five to seven days.
In contrast, taxpayers who file on paper close to the April
15, 2008 deadline – when the department will receive more
than 100,000 returns each day – may have to wait six to eight
weeks to receive a refund check by mail.
“There’s no way around it: Processing paper takes time,”
Levin said. “Filing electronically cuts through the red
tape.”
In addition to I-File
and eForms, the Ohio Department of Taxation
offers two other ways to complete an income tax return
without using a pen and paper. They include the Internal
Revenue Service eFile program, available through paid
preparers and common tax return software packages, and the
Telefile program, available to taxpayers who filed by
telephone last year.
The new eForms option is the single biggest
change for the new state income tax filing season. Other
major changes include:
-
Lower tax rates. The 2007 tax tables
include a 4.2 percent cut across all income tax brackets
when compared to the previous tax year. The lower rates
mark the third year of a five-year plan to reduce state
income tax rates by 21 percent across all brackets. The
plan, enacted by the Ohio General Assembly in 2005, was
embraced by Governor Ted Strickland in his 2008-09 state
budget plan.
-
A new military tax exemption: Servicemen
and women who received pay while stationed outside Ohio may
now deduct this military pay in arriving at their Ohio
adjusted gross income.
Income tax returns due by April 15, 2008 cover the
2007 tax year. This means some recently
publicized tax changes won’t apply to this filing season. For
example, while military pensions were exempted from the state
income tax effective Jan. 1, 2008, this change doesn't affect
the current filing season.
For more information on the Department of Taxation’s
paperless filing options, visit
tax.ohio.gov.
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Note: For a review of all of Ohio's paperless income tax
filing options, click here.