Mandatory income tax filing law passed

New legislation means no more exemptions for residents working in city

All Mentor-on-the-Lake taxpayers now must file an income tax return each year.

City Council on Nov. 13 passed as an emergency measure to that effect.

“This will allow us time to get communication out to the residents, making them aware of mandatory filing,” Mayor David Eva said.

The city’s previous ordinance allowed an exception for residents who work in the city.

“The new legislation requires all residents with earned, taxable income to file an annual return, regardless of location worked,” said Administration and Finance Director Hollie Bartone.

There has been confusion among a number of residents about whether they need to file, Law Director James M. Lyons said.

“And that has created some confusion in enforcing the city income tax code for Central Collection Agency, which handles our returns,” he said.

The city’s tax administrator will accept on behalf of all nonresident individual taxpayers a return filed by an employer, agent of an employer or other payer located in the city when the nonresident individual taxpayer’s “sole income subject to the tax is the qualifying wages reported … and no additional tax is due to the municipality,” the new law says.

“We’re just going to apply the same rules across the board,” Lyons said.

In 2015, the state mandated that city’s update their income tax code. City officials raised questions in response to an audit CCA is conducting of the city, of the years 2010 through 2015.

“Like many tax codes, it doesn’t read well,” Lyons said.