City of Mansfield, Ohio Income Tax: Who Owes, Filing, and Penalties

The Mansfield Ohio income tax is a 1% municipal tax on earned income and business net profits, administered directly by the city’s Finance and Income Tax Division rather than through a third-party collector.¹ Returns for the 2025 tax year are due April 15, 2026, and the tax has been governed by Chapter 193 of the Codified Ordinances since January 1, 2016.²

Who Owes the Tax

Section 193.012 sets the rate at 1% on qualifying earnings.² Whether you owe depends on where you live and where the income is earned.

If you live inside Mansfield city limits, you owe the tax on all your earned income, no matter where you earned it.
If you live outside the city but work in Mansfield, you owe tax only on the portion earned within city boundaries.³
Businesses operating in Mansfield owe tax on net profits attributable to activity within the city. Nonresidents who own rental property in Mansfield must also file.¹

Employers located or doing business in Mansfield are required to withhold the tax from each paycheck.⁴ If yours doesn’t withhold enough, or any, the obligation to file and pay shifts to you.

What Income Is Taxed and What Isn’t

Mansfield taxes “qualifying wages,” a figure that closely tracks the Medicare wages in Box 5 of your W-2.⁵ Net profits from a business or profession, rental income from Mansfield properties, and gambling and lottery winnings are also taxable.¹

Ohio Revised Code Section 718.01(C) bars municipalities from taxing several categories of income. The ones most Mansfield filers run into:

Retirement income, including Social Security, railroad retirement, pensions, annuity payments, and disability payments from any source.
Military pay and allowances, including reserves and National Guard.
Intangible income such as interest, dividends, and capital gains.
Alimony and child support received, unemployment compensation, and insurance proceeds for personal injuries or property damage (except lost wages and punitive damages).⁶

If your only income comes from Social Security and a pension, you likely owe nothing to Mansfield and may qualify for an exemption certificate rather than filing a full return.

Credit if You Work in Another Ohio City

Mansfield residents who work in another Ohio municipality and pay income tax there can claim a credit against their Mansfield liability, capped at 1% of the income taxed by the other city.⁷ Because Mansfield’s own rate is 1%, a resident working in a city that charges at least 1% typically owes Mansfield nothing on those wages after the credit.

The credit is non-refundable. It can reduce your Mansfield tax to zero but won’t produce a refund. If the other city’s rate is lower than 1%, you still owe Mansfield the difference. Working somewhere that charges 0.5%, for instance, leaves you owing Mansfield 0.5% on those earnings. You’ll need documentation of the tax paid to the other city when you file.

How to File and Pay

You can file electronically through the city’s portal at mitstaxonline.com/mansfield, or mail a paper return to City of Mansfield Income Tax, P.O. Box 577, Mansfield, Ohio 44901.¹ To complete your return you’ll need your W-2s showing local wages, any 1099 forms for non-wage income, and a copy of your federal return (including Schedule C if you’re self-employed). The filing deadline for the 2025 tax year is April 15, 2026.

Mansfield is listed as a Central Collection Agency (CCA) member municipality, so your employer may remit withholding through CCA.⁸ Individual taxpayers still file with the city’s own tax office. The office at 30 North Diamond Street is open weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and can be reached at 419-755-9711.

Estimated Payments for Self-Employed Filers and Landlords

If you expect to owe $200 or more after withholding and credits, you should make quarterly estimated payments.⁹ This typically applies to self-employed people, landlords with Mansfield rentals, and anyone whose employer doesn’t withhold local tax.

Quarterly deadlines for 2026 follow the IRS schedule:

First quarter: April 15, 2026
Second quarter: June 15, 2026
Third quarter: September 15, 2026
Fourth quarter: January 15, 2027

Underpaid estimates trigger a 15% penalty on the shortfall plus 9% annual interest for 2026.¹⁰ If your income fluctuates, erring slightly high is usually cheaper than catching up at year-end.

Penalties and Interest for Filing or Paying Late

Mansfield’s penalty structure has three layers, and they stack:

Late filing penalty of up to $25 per return filed after the deadline. Ohio law requires the city to waive this the first time you file late, as long as you eventually file.¹¹
Unpaid tax penalty of 15% on any amount not paid on time, applied to both annual balances and missed estimates.¹⁰
Interest at the federal short-term rate plus 5%, rounded to the nearest whole percent. For 2026 that comes to 9% per year, assessed monthly on any unpaid balance.¹²

On an unpaid balance of $1,000, that works out to an immediate $150 penalty plus roughly $90 in interest over a full year. If the account ends up in legal proceedings, the city can also recover post-judgment collection costs and attorney’s fees.¹⁰ Filing on time even when you can’t pay in full avoids the late filing penalty and keeps the damage limited to interest and the 15% charge on the unpaid portion.

1
Mansfield Finance and Income Tax Department. Finance and Income Tax Department
2
American Legal Publishing. Codified Ordinances of Mansfield OH – Chapter 193 Municipal Income Tax Effective January 1, 2016
3
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Chapter 718
4
American Legal Publishing. Codified Ordinances of Mansfield OH – Section 193.051 Collection at Source
5
American Legal Publishing. Codified Ordinances of Mansfield OH – Section 193.03 Definitions
6
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Section 718.01
7
American Legal Publishing. Codified Ordinances of Mansfield OH – 191.07 Credit for Tax Paid to Other Municipalities
8
Central Collection Agency. CCA Member Municipalities
9
Central Collection Agency. 2026 Estimate Tax Form
10
American Legal Publishing. Codified Ordinances of Mansfield OH – 193.10 Penalty, Interest, Fees, and Charges
11
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Section 718.27
12
Central Collection Agency. Penalty and Interest Rates