The Ohio Department of Taxation is lowering the threshold for the electronic filing of W-2 and 1099-R information for calendar year 2021 information (submitted in 2022).  

Going forward, all employers and retirement system payers that issue 10 or more W-2/1099-Rs will be required to upload their W-2/1099-R information electronically through the Ohio Business Gateway.  To aid in this new requirement for 2021 (filed in 2022) the Department will also grant a filing extension from the traditional January 31, 2022 due date to March 2, 2022 for the W-2s, 1099-Rs, Employer Withholding reconciliation returns (IT 941 and IT 942 4th Quarter/Annual), and the School District Withholding reconciliation return (SD 141). 

As part of this new threshold, the Department has created an alternative W-2 filing approach to the EFW2 format utilized over the last two years. This alternative approach is called the Simplified W-2 Upload format, which utilizes a CSV (comma-separated values) file type that can be used to create a W-2 file to submit to the Department using the W-2/1099 Upload feature on the Ohio Business Gateway. 

Those employers who issue less than 10 W-2s that choose not to file their W-2 information using one of the two electronic approaches will be required to file a paper version of the IT 3 AND attach a copy of the W-2s that were issued to their employees.

For more information check the W-2/1099 Information page at tax.ohio.gov/W2upload.

If you have any questions regarding this tax alert, please contact the Ohio Department of Taxation at [email protected].