Toledo Income Tax: Rate, Credit Rules and Filing

CCA, not RITA

How does Toledo's tax administration differ from other Ohio cities?

Ohio cities use one of three systems for municipal tax collection: RITA (Regional Income Tax Agency), CCA (Central Collection Agency), or self-administration. Toledo uses CCA. This matters because:

• You file your Toledo return through CCA's online portal, not RITA's.
• If your home municipality uses RITA, you will need to file two separate returns: one with CCA for Toledo and one with RITA for your home city.
• CCA and RITA have different portals, different form numbers and different filing deadlines in some cases.

CCA administers taxes for many Northeast Ohio cities. The filing portal is at ccatax.ci.cleveland.oh.us. Despite the Cleveland-sounding URL, it handles multiple Ohio cities including Toledo.

How does Toledo's credit policy work for commuters?

The credit is the single most important question for Toledo-area commuters. When you live in Toledo and work in a different Ohio city, you pay the municipal tax to your work city. Toledo then may give you a credit for that payment against your Toledo liability.

The key is whether Toledo offers a full credit (100% of taxes paid to the work city, up to Toledo's rate) or a partial credit. Not all Ohio cities offer the same credit level. Some cap credits below their own rate, meaning you still owe a portion to your home city even after paying the work city's full rate.

What about Michigan residents commuting to Toledo?

Toledo sits just south of the Michigan border, and many workers commute from communities like Monroe, Temperance and Bedford Township. Michigan and Ohio have a reciprocal agreement for state income taxes, so Michigan residents do not owe Ohio state tax. However, Toledo's municipal tax is separate and not covered by that reciprocity.

Michigan residents who work in Toledo owe Toledo's municipal tax on their Toledo-source wages, plus Michigan state income tax (4.25% flat) on all income. Michigan may offer a partial credit for taxes paid to other states or jurisdictions, but the interaction between a Michigan state credit and an Ohio municipal tax is not straightforward. Consult your tax preparer or the Michigan Department of Treasury for how Toledo's city tax interacts with your Michigan return.

What about remote workers after the pandemic rules?

Ohio's temporary pandemic provision (HB 197) that allowed withholding based on office location for remote workers has expired. Under permanent Ohio law (ORC 718), municipal tax is based on where work is physically performed. If you work from home in Perrysburg, Sylvania or another Toledo suburb, those days should be taxed by your home municipality, not Toledo.

If your employer continues to withhold Toledo tax for remote-work days, file with CCA for a refund of the over-withholding. Keep a work-location log showing which days you physically worked in Toledo vs. at home. File with your home municipality for the taxes owed on remote days.

What income does Toledo exempt from municipal tax?

Toledo's municipal tax applies only to earned income: wages, salaries, commissions, bonuses and net self-employment income. It does not apply to interest, dividends, capital gains, Social Security, pensions, unemployment compensation or rental income. Retirees whose only income is pension and Social Security owe zero Toledo municipal tax. This is consistent with Ohio's statewide framework for municipal income taxes under ORC 718.

Does Toledo have an Ohio school district income tax?

Separate from the municipal income tax, many Ohio school districts levy their own School District Income Tax (SDIT). If you live within a school district that has enacted an SDIT, you owe this additional tax on top of the municipal tax. The SDIT is collected by the Ohio Department of Taxation on your state return, not by CCA.

The SDIT rate and base vary by district. Some districts tax earned income only, while others use a broader base that includes certain types of investment income. The SDIT is not credited against your municipal income tax — it is a completely separate levy. To determine whether your school district has an SDIT and at what rate, check the Ohio Department of Taxation's SDIT lookup.

This is a factor that few other resources mention, but it can add 0.5% to 2% or more to your total local tax burden depending on where in the Toledo metro you live.

What is the occasional-entrant threshold for nonresidents?

Under Ohio's municipal tax framework (ORC 718.011), municipalities can set a threshold for occasional entrants — nonresidents who work in the city for only a few days per year. If you work in Toledo fewer than the threshold number of days, you may not owe Toledo tax for that year. The threshold has historically been set at 12 or 20 days depending on the municipality's ordinance.

Once you exceed the threshold, Toledo can tax you on all days worked in the city for that year, not just the days above the threshold. Some employers track this automatically; others leave it to the employee to monitor. If you visit Toledo for occasional meetings but are primarily based elsewhere, check whether you are below the occasional-entrant threshold before assuming you owe no Toledo tax.