Newark, Ohio Income Tax: Rate, Filing, and Penalties

The Newark, Ohio income tax is a flat 1.75% on earned income, paid by city residents and by nonresidents who work inside city limits. Every resident 18 or older has to file an annual return with the Newark Tax Office by April 15, even if they owe nothing and even if they had no income at all.¹ The tax runs separately from state and federal income taxes and funds city services like police, fire, and infrastructure.

Who Has to File

If you live in Newark and are 18 or older, you file every year. No exception for zero income. No exception for fully exempt income. If you had nothing taxable, you submit an Exemption Form instead of skipping the filing, and skipping it anyway can bring a $25 late-filing penalty even when your liability is zero.¹

Nonresidents who work inside Newark city limits owe the 1.75% on income earned there. An employer with a Newark workplace will usually withhold it from your paycheck, but you are still responsible for confirming the right amount came out.² Businesses operating in Newark, including corporations, partnerships, and pass-through entities, file the Annual Return and report net profits attributable to activity within the city.

What the 1.75% Applies To

The flat 1.75% rate has been in effect since January 1, 2002.³ It covers salaries, wages, commissions, and other compensation from employment or self-employment. On the individual return, the starting figure is Box 5 (Medicare wages) on your W-2. If Box 5 is blank, use the higher of Box 1 or Box 18.⁴

Self-employment and independent contractor income reported on 1099-NEC forms counts too. Business net profits are taxed at the same 1.75%, apportioned to Newark based on the share of activity in the city.

Income That Isn’t Taxed

Newark’s tax targets active earned income, so a lot of common income types fall outside it. Under Ohio Revised Code 718.01(C), exempt income includes:

Social Security, railroad retirement, pensions, annuity distributions, and disability payments from any source
State unemployment compensation (though supplemental unemployment pay from an employer is taxable)
Interest, dividends, and other intangible investment income
All military pay and allowances for members of the U.S. armed forces, reserves, and National Guard
Alimony, child support, and insurance proceeds for personal injury or property damage, excluding lost wages and punitive damages

The military pay exemption is absolute under Ohio law and applies regardless of where the service member is stationed.⁵

If You Work in Another Ohio City

Living in Newark but working somewhere else in Ohio that also levies a municipal income tax doesn’t mean paying full freight twice. Newark gives you a credit for tax paid to the other city, capped at 1.00% of the income taxed elsewhere.⁶

The practical result: on income earned in another taxing city, you always owe Newark at least 0.75% (1.75% minus the 1.00% ceiling on the credit). If the other city’s rate is below 1.00%, your credit equals only what you actually paid there. You need documentation showing the other municipality was paid, and a W-2 showing local tax withheld usually does the job.

Filing Your Return

Newark has three individual return options. The Long Form handles any mix of income. The Short Form works if you only have W-2 income. The Exemption Form covers residents with no taxable income who still have to meet the filing requirement. Businesses file a separate Annual Return.⁷

Pull together your W-2s from every employer, any 1099-NEC forms, and your federal return if you have self-employment or business income. On the Long Form, you enter total qualifying wages from Box 5 on the first line, apply the 1.75% rate, then subtract any credit for taxes paid to other cities and any Newark withholding your employer already remitted.⁴

Returns for the 2025 tax year are due April 15, 2026.¹ If you mail a paper return, the address depends on whether a payment is enclosed:

Returns with payment: P.O. Box 4577, Newark, OH
Returns requesting a refund: P.O. Box 4700, Newark, OH

Make checks or money orders payable to the Newark City Income Tax department. Newark also runs an online portal for filing and paying electronically.⁸ Cash is only accepted in person at the office.

Quarterly Estimated Payments

If your Newark tax liability for the prior year was $200 or more, you have to make quarterly estimated payments through the current year.⁹ This mostly hits self-employed filers, business owners, and anyone whose employer doesn’t withhold Newark tax. The 2026 individual deadlines are April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15, 2027. Business filers follow the same schedule except the fourth payment is due December 15.¹

The installments aren’t four equal pieces. Ohio law requires cumulative payments of 22.5% by the first deadline, 45% by the second, 67.5% by the third, and 90% by the fourth.⁹ Paying a little over a quarter each time keeps you safely ahead.

What a Late Filing or Payment Costs

Missing April 15 can trigger two separate hits. A late-filing penalty of up to $25 applies to each return not filed on time, whether or not any tax is owed. Newark waives this penalty for a taxpayer’s first late filing once the return comes in.¹⁰

On top of that, an unpaid balance carries a penalty of up to 15% of the amount owed, plus interest. For 2026, Newark charges 9% per year on unpaid balances, or 0.75% per month.¹ On a $1,000 balance that’s $7.50 of interest every month on top of the 15% penalty. If you can’t pay the full balance by April 15, filing on time anyway avoids the late-filing penalty and holds the damage to interest and the underpayment penalty.

Reaching the Tax Office

The Newark Tax Office is at 15 North 3rd Street, Second Floor, Newark, Ohio 43055. The phone number is 740-670-7580.⁸ Hours are Monday and Tuesday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Wednesday 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Thursday and Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For in-person tax help or to make a payment, sign in by 3:45 p.m.; after that only completed drop-off filings are accepted.

1
City of Newark, Ohio. Income Taxes
2
City of Newark. Newark Ohio Codified Ordinances Chapter 890 Municipal Income Tax
3
City of Newark. Newark Ohio Codified Ordinances Chapter 890 Municipal Income Tax – Section: 890.012
4
City of Newark, Ohio. 2025 Long Form Instructions
5
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Chapter 718 – Section: 718.01(C)
6
American Legal Publishing. Newark Code of Ordinances 890.081 – Credit for Taxes Paid to Other Municipalities
7
Newark Ohio Gov. Income Tax Forms
8
City of Newark, Ohio. Department of Taxation
9
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Section 718.08
10
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Section 718.27