Columbus Form IR-25 is the city’s annual individual income tax return, due April 15, reporting earned income at the flat 2.5% municipal rate.1City of Columbus, Ohio. General Income Tax Information You can file online through the CRISP portal or mail the paper form to the Income Tax Division.2City of Columbus, Ohio. Income Tax Division The return is one page, front and back, and most of the work is pulling numbers off your W-2s and federal return.
Who Has to File
If you lived in Columbus at any point during the tax year and were 18 or older, you owe a return. That holds even if your employer already withheld the full 2.5% and you have nothing left to pay.3City of Columbus, Ohio. Instructions for Form IR-25 Columbus Individual Return Part-year residents file for the portion of the year they lived inside city limits.
Nonresidents file in two situations. The first is underwithholding: you worked in Columbus but your employer withheld less than 2.5% of your wages to the city. Compare Box 19 on your W-2 to 2.5% of Box 18 wages; if Box 19 is lower, you need to file. The second is Schedule C, E (rental), or F income earned in Columbus, even if the activity produced a net loss.3City of Columbus, Ohio. Instructions for Form IR-25 Columbus Individual Return
Workers under 18 for the entire year do not have to file. If an employer withheld Columbus tax from your wages anyway, you can file an IR-25 to get those withholdings refunded.
What to Gather Before You Start
Pull these documents together first:
- Every W-2 for the year, including Boxes 18 and 19 showing local wages and local tax withheld.
- Your completed federal Form 1040. The IR-25 reuses many of the same figures.
- Schedule C for sole proprietor or freelance income, Schedule E for rental income, and Schedule F for farming income.3City of Columbus, Ohio. Instructions for Form IR-25 Columbus Individual Return
- Partnership K-1s if you’re a Columbus resident with a partnership share. You report your share on the IR-25; the partnership itself files a separate BR-25.
- W-2s or receipts documenting any municipal tax you paid to another Ohio city, which you’ll need for the credit.
- Social Security numbers for you and your spouse if filing jointly, plus your current address and any change from the prior year.
Attach copies of the relevant federal schedules to the return. If they’re missing, the Tax Division will request them and processing slows down.
Filling Out the Return
The top of the form collects personal information: name, Social Security number, address, and filing status. The rest walks through income, credits, and your final tax figure.
Reporting Income
Enter total taxable wages from all W-2s. Columbus taxes earned income at a flat 2.5%, so qualifying income multiplied by 0.025 gives your gross tax liability.1City of Columbus, Ohio. General Income Tax Information Net figures from Schedule C, E, or F feed into the return as well. Residents owe on all earned income regardless of where it was earned; nonresidents owe only on income sourced to Columbus.3City of Columbus, Ohio. Instructions for Form IR-25 Columbus Individual Return
Credit for Tax Paid to Another Ohio City
This is the line most Columbus residents care about. If you work in another Ohio city that withholds its own municipal tax, you can credit that amount against your Columbus liability. The credit is capped at 2.5%. If the other city’s rate is higher, you only get credit up to 2.5%. If the other city’s rate is lower, say 2%, you owe Columbus the 0.5% difference. Attach the W-2s showing the other city’s withholding as proof.
Finishing the Calculation
After the credit, subtract any Columbus tax your employer already withheld (Box 19) and any estimated payments you made during the year. A positive result is a balance due. A negative result means you overpaid and can take a refund or apply it to next year’s estimated taxes.
Income Columbus Doesn’t Tax
The 2.5% rate applies to earned income, and several common income types sit outside it:
- Social Security, traditional pensions, and IRA distributions.
- Interest and dividends.
- Military pay earned outside Ohio by Ohio-resident servicemembers stationed out of state.4Ohio Department of Taxation. Military Servicemembers and Ohio Income Taxes
Many Columbus retirees have no filing obligation at all because none of their income is taxable at the municipal level. If your only income is from exempt sources, you generally do not need to file.
How to Submit and Pay
The fastest route is the Columbus Revenue Information Service Portal (CRISP) at crisp.columbus.gov. You can complete the return online, upload your federal schedules, pay by bank transfer, and get immediate confirmation that the city received your filing.2City of Columbus, Ohio. Income Tax Division
To file on paper, mail the completed IR-25 with copies of all W-2s and federal schedules to:
Columbus Income Tax Division
PO Box 182158
Columbus, OH 43218-21582City of Columbus, Ohio. Income Tax Division
The city uses one address for all individual returns, whether you owe, are claiming a refund, or have no balance due. If you owe, include a check or money order payable to “Columbus Income Tax Division.”
The April 15 Deadline and Extensions
The IR-25 is due April 15, matching the federal deadline.3City of Columbus, Ohio. Instructions for Form IR-25 Columbus Individual Return When April 15 lands on a weekend or holiday, the deadline rolls to the next business day.
If you file a federal extension with the IRS, Columbus automatically gives you the same extension period for the IR-25. There is no separate city extension form.6City of Columbus, Ohio. Instructions for Form IR-25 Columbus Individual Return
If You File or Pay Late
Columbus charges a 15% penalty on tax that remains unpaid after the original due date.5Regional Income Tax Agency. Penalty and Interest Rates It’s a one-time charge on the unpaid balance rather than a recurring monthly fee, but it adds up fast on larger amounts.
Interest accrues on unpaid tax from the due date forward. The annual rate equals the federal short-term rate (rounded to the nearest whole percent) plus five percentage points, reset each calendar year from the rate published the prior July.7Regional Income Tax Agency. Penalty and Interest Rates A separate late filing penalty applies to returns that remain unfiled past the deadline, whether or not the return shows a balance due.
If cash is tight, file on time anyway and pay what you can by April 15. That eliminates the late filing penalty and limits your exposure to the underpayment penalty and interest on the remaining balance.
Quarterly Estimated Payments
If you expect to owe $200 or more in Columbus income tax for the year, you’re required to make quarterly estimated payments instead of waiting until April.2City of Columbus, Ohio. Income Tax Division This mostly catches self-employed workers and people with meaningful business or rental income.
For calendar-year filers, the quarterly due dates are April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15 of the following year.2City of Columbus, Ohio. Income Tax Division You report what you paid in on the annual IR-25. Any overpayment can be refunded or rolled forward as a credit against next year’s estimates.