Dublin local tax guide
Who pays Dublin's local tax
Dublin's tax lands mostly on commuters. Many people drive in from Columbus, Hilliard, Powell, and Plain City to office parks along Interstate 270, and each has 2% withheld for Dublin. Dublin residents owe 2% on all wages, but the city credits 100% of tax paid to the work city, up to 2%. A Dublin resident with a downtown Columbus job has 2.5% withheld for Columbus and owes Dublin nothing. A resident working in a township with no city tax, or remotely for an out-of-state firm, owes Dublin the full 2%.
How Dublin's 2% tax works
Dublin taxes wages, commissions, and business net profit at a flat 2%. The city's Division of Taxation runs the program directly, so returns and refunds go to Dublin rather than to RITA or CCA.
The city of about 49,000 straddles Franklin, Delaware, and Union counties, and its large employers include Cardinal Health and Wendy's, both headquartered there. Dublin collects from the people who work in those buildings whether or not they live in the city.
The tax applies to Medicare wages, the box 5 figure on a W-2. Traditional 401(k) contributions stay in that figure, so they do not trim your Dublin tax.
Worked example: $75,000 in Dublin
A single filer with a $75,000 Dublin salary owes $7,670 in federal income tax, $1,288 in Ohio tax, $4,650 in Social Security, and $1,088 in Medicare. Dublin's 2% is $1,500. Take-home pay is $58,804, or about $4,900 a month.
Against a job with no municipal tax, worth $60,304 after tax, Dublin costs $1,500. Against an identical job in Columbus, where the rate is 2.5%, a Dublin job saves $375 a year.
The saving does not depend on your address. A Columbus resident who takes the $75,000 job in Dublin pays Dublin $1,500, then owes Columbus the $375 difference under Columbus's residence rules, so the Columbus resident's total stays at $1,875.
Withholding and filing
Dublin employers withhold 2% for the city. If you live in Columbus and work in Dublin, ask payroll whether it can also withhold the Columbus difference, or expect to pay it when you file your Columbus return.
Every Dublin resident 18 or older must file a return, using Form DIR1040 or the shorter DIR1040EZ, even when the work city's withholding covers the whole tax. Residents whose employer withholds for another city at 2% or more usually show no Dublin balance on that return. Residents who work from home for an employer in another state should check whether any Ohio city tax is withheld, because Dublin can tax wages earned at a home office inside the city.
How Dublin compares with other Ohio cities
At 2%, Dublin ties Hamilton, Mansfield, and Cuyahoga Falls in the middle of the Ohio cities on this site. Nine cities, including neighboring Columbus, charge 2.5%, and Youngstown charges 2.75%, or $2,063 at $75,000.
Cheaper options are few: Cincinnati's 1.8% costs $1,350, Newark's 1.75% costs $1,313, and Lima and Lakewood's 1.5% costs $1,125, or $375 less than Dublin.
Tips for Dublin paychecks
Columbus residents: plan for the gap
Working in Dublin while living in Columbus means $1,500 withheld for Dublin and a $375 Columbus balance at $75,000 unless payroll withholds it.
Check which city your office is in
Parts of the Dublin area carry Columbus or township addresses. Your withholding should match the municipality where the building sits.
Remote workers owe Dublin directly
If you live in Dublin and work from home for an out-of-state employer, Dublin's 2% applies and may need estimated payments.