Ohio commuters aren’t eligible for a tax refund for time they spent working at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Wednesday .
The court, in a 5-2 decision, ruled that a state law that allowed municipalities to collect income tax from nonresidents in 2020 was constitutional. The decision means cities avoided millions in refunds.
In March 2020, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine declared a state of emergency because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ohio Department of Health directed most individuals to work from home. Shortly after that order, Ohio legislators passed a law allowing cities to collect income taxes even if employees lived outside the city where the business was based.
This money could be collected during the stay-at-home order and for 30 days after.
Josh Schaad , a Blue Ash man who tried and failed to get a tax refund from the city of Cincinnati, filed a lawsuit challenging that law . He argued that the city wasn’t entitled to tax the income he made outside the city’s limits between June 2020 and December 2020.