Please see the “State Tax Refund Offset Program” page on our website.
The agency or agencies shown on the letter have reported to the Department of Taxation (ODT) that you owe one or more debts. ODT is required to apply your Ohio Individual\School District income tax refund as partial or complete payment of the debt(s).
There are two types of income Tax Refund Offset letters. If you receive a “proposed” offset letter, you have the opportunity to contest all or a portion of the proposed offset(s) by submitting the Ohio Non-Liable Spouse worksheet and supporting documentation. If you do not respond to the proposed offset letter or you did not receive a proposed offset letter, your refund will be offset against the debt(s) listed.
See R.C. 5747.12.
The Department of Taxation is unable to resend this letter. Instead, you can view an interactive noticeand/or an electronic version of Non-Liable Spouse worksheetfor Individual Income Tax and SD Non-Liable Spouse worksheet for School District Income Tax.
While the Department of Taxation (ODT) is responsible for offsetting your refund, the debt is actually owed to another agency.That agency has provided information to ODT indicating that a balance is still due. You must contact that agency to resolve the discrepancy and/or obtain your refund. Contact information for the agencies is listed below:
- Ohio Department of Job and Family Services
- For debt related to back child support, call 1-800-686-1556
- For debt related to public assistance, call 1-877-852-0010
- OhioBureauofWorkersCompensation(BWC)
- For debt related to BWC premiums, call1-800-644-6292
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
- For debt related to federal taxes, call 1-800-829-1040
- Ohio Attorney General’s Office
- For debts collected by the Ohio Attorney General, call 1-877-607-6400 or 1-800-282-0515
It generally takes 30 business days for the offset to be applied towards your debt(s). Please do not contact theDepartment of Taxation regarding your debt. Instead, if the offset has not been applied to your debt within 30 business days, contact the agency or agencies shown on the letter.
Spouses who file a “married filing jointly” return are jointly liable for the total debt, whether or not they are still married. The Department of Taxation is unable to split the liability between two ex-spouses or spouses who file "married filing separately". Thus, it is possible that more than half the debt will be collected from you.
See R.C. 5747.08(E).
If you are not liable for any or all of the debt(s) listed on the Tax Refund Offset letter, you may be entitled to all or a portion of your refund. In this case, you will have received a “proposed” Tax Refund Offset letter, which includes the Non-Liable Spouse worksheet. The Department of Taxation provides an electronic version of the worksheetfor Individual Income Tax and the worksheet for School District Income Taxand its instructions.
The worksheet uses your Ohio taxable income and Ohio income tax withholding and/or estimated payments to calculate your portion of the refund. You must submit the completed worksheet and supporting documentation by the date listed on the notice by either:
- Document upload viaOH|TAX eServices account
- To login or create an OH|TAX eServices account attax.ohio.gov/myportal.
- Document upload vis Guest Upload
- To upload documents without an account, click here.
- Mail
Ohio Department of Taxation
P.O Box 182402
Columbus, Ohio 43218-2402
If you do not timely respond, your refund will be offset as partial or complete payment of the debt(s) described in the letter. You can also login or create and OH|TAX eServices account to view letters and have the option to sign up for electronic delivery for future letters.
See R.C. 5747.12. See also Ohio Adm. Code 5703-7-13(B)(1), (2), and (3).
No. The Non-Liable Spouse worksheet must be submitted in response to the Tax Refund Offset letter. Please do not submit the worksheet prior to receiving the offset letter (i.e. with your Ohio IT 1040 or SD 100).
You will generally receive any refund not subject to offset within 60 days of the date of the Tax Refund Offset letter. However, you can potentially receive your refund sooner by notifying the Department of Taxation that you agree with the offset as shown on the letter.
Please complete the “We Agree with the Offset” section of the letter and submit it by either:
You may submit your response using one of the following options:
- eServices Document Upload via OH|TAX account
- Login or create an OH|TAX eServices account.
- Click "Additional Services", then click Respond to a letter or notice under the "Letters and Notices" panel
- Select the specific notice you are responding to
- eServices Document Upload via Guest Upload
- Provide the Letter ID and some identifying information to respond without an OH|TAX eServices account.
- Provide the Letter ID and some identifying information to respond without an OH|TAX eServices account.
- Mail:
Ohio Department of Taxation
Personal and School District Income Tax
PO Box 182847
Columbus, OH 43218-2847
No. The Department of Taxation can only accept the Non-Liable Spouse worksheet. Please do not provide IRS form 8379.
See Ohio Adm. Code 5703-7-13.