Cleveland Heights Taxes (2014, credit, how much)

[PMF972]

Would be very grateful for any help. My daughter works in Cleveland (case western) and lives in Cleveland Heights (CH). Case withdraw local taxes to Cleveland not CH. Do we have to submit tax forms to both Cleveland and CH (CH is part of R.I.T.A). We submitted form 37 for 2013 to R.I.T.A and they want more money saying the taxes went to Cleveland. Any help or explanation will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[WRnative]

You would have to read the RITA tax form for the exact details, but it appears that Cleveland Heights residents must pay CH 1 1/2 percent of their earned income from Cleveland after a half percent residential income tax credit. See taxes in the following link. This is in addition to the 2 percent paid Cleveland on the same income.

City of Cleveland Heights, OH : Cleveland Heights at a Glance

Cleveland Heights is considering raising its income tax rate and/or eliminating the 1/2 percent credit.

Cleveland Heights considers hiking income tax, eliminating credit | cleveland.com

Residents are responsible for paying estimated taxes to their resident city if their employer doesn't withhold any taxes owed and then remitted them to the resident city. If Case Western didn't withhold an additional 1 1/2 percent for Cleveland Hts., your daughter is liable for this amount. I don't know if Case Western will withhold CH taxes and remit them to CH if the request is made.

I don't know if you have to submit a CCA (Central Collection Agency) form for the income earned in Cleveland and withheld by Case Western and remitted to Cleveland. Check with both CCA, read the CCA tax form, and check with Case Western HR.

There are two municipal income tax agencies representing cities in Greater Cleveland -- CCA and RITA. Some cities additionally have their own income tax departments and use neither CCA or RITA. The City of Cleveland uses CCA.

From the following table, you can see that the residential tax credit ranges from 0% (the resident owes the resident city the full resident income tax rate on income earned elsewhere) to 100 percent (the resident pays the resident city nothing on income earned elsewhere). This is determined by local law for each city.

Income and property tax rates for Greater Cleveland communities | cleveland.com

The above table is from 2010 and may no longer be accurate for all cities.

In summary, fill out the RITA income tax return for a Cleveland Hts. resident. Your daughter appears likely to owe CH an additional 1 1/2 percent, based on what I've read and my understanding of Ohio municipal income taxes, but I'm not an expert and could be wrong.

With few exceptions, there is a municipal income tax advantage to living and working in the same city. This may partially explain why many persons who work in University Circle live in the Shaker Square area that is part of Cleveland.

Hope this helps, but don't rely on my comments. Confirm everything yourself.

[chofmann79]

Each RITA city has its own law regarding how much you owe in taxes (in addition to what you pay Cleveland). I no longer live in the area, but when I worked at CWRU and lived outside of Cleveland proper, I always filed a RITA return (as mentioned above, there is definitely a tax advantage to living within the city). If I recall, Cleveland Heights in particular did not give much credit for taxes paid to Cleveland...I ended up paying the additional tax bill every year I lived in Cleveland Heights. I would file a return and pay ASAP, as RITA will add fines/fees to your bill the longer you are past due.