Ideastream Public Media’s Abbey Marshall sat down with the city’s income tax administration Danielle Clark to discuss everything you need to know to file.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Marshall: I think, honestly, a lot of people don’t even realize they have to file for local income tax. Could you walk me through some of the misconceptions about municipal taxes?
Clark: I think a lot of the misconceptions comes from people just thinking once they file their federal taxes through any sort of platform or going to a tax preparer that that’s it for them. But for the city of Cleveland, there is a requirement to file your local income tax. If you live in the city, work in the city, do business in the city of Cleveland, then there is a requirement to file local income taxes. … We haven’t done the best getting the word out. And so, that’s what we’re trying to do now; make sure all of our residents and those doing business in the city know that this is a requirement.
Marshall: What are the filing options for residents and employees working in the city?
Clark: They can come into our office (205 W. St. Clair Ave, Cleveland). We have extended hours from now until Tax Day, April 15. So, they can come in 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. We also will be offering walk-ins on Saturday, April 11, from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. I know some people work and it’s hard to get downtown during the week, so we’ll have that Saturday available for them to walk in. We have auditors available to file their local taxes for them. They can also call the office (216-664-2070) if they have a payment that’s due. They also can mail in their tax forms. We also offer e-file on our website. So, there are three different options for people to get those taxes completed.
Marshall: What if people miss the tax deadline or receive a notice of late payment or audit?
Clark: If they’ve missed the deadline, they can always call into our office. We can get them back on track. We can help them file e-file, or if they want to mail in or walk in, even if it’s a year ago and they should have filed; they still have the option to file. There may be some late fees and penalties associated with that, but we try to work with every resident. So come in, get your taxes looked at, have them filed, and then we can go from there. But it’s never too late. They can always come in.
Marshall: What challenges have you seen in the past for Cleveland taxpayers?
Clark: I think the challenge is just being knowing that they have to file. We saw the challenge where people wanted to be able to do it online. So that’s what E-file is, and it’s fairly new to (Central Collection Agency). So that was one of the challenges as our demographic changes: with younger people moving into the city, we want to give them that option to do it on e-file. That’s the biggest thing, getting the word out.
The tax filing deadline is April 15.
