Governor Mike DeWine announced this week that he would be lifting most of the COVID-19 health orders which were originally issued in March 2020 (subsequently amended). The health orders were originally issued in response to an increase in coronavirus cases in the state of Ohio. In conjunction with the health orders, House Bill 197 was enacted which temporarily suspended the 20-day withholding requirement for an employer for the duration of the pandemic and 30-days thereafter.
Now that the Gov. DeWine plans to rescind the health orders on June 2, 2021, the temporary suspension of the 20-day requirement under House Bill 197 will expire on July 2, 2021. After that date, employers will be required to revert back to the standard 20-day rule requirement for withholding and remitting taxes for their employees. See prior article Ohio Employer Withholding Change for information on the standard rule for employer withholding.
With the rescission of the temporary rule, employers will need to ensure that they are appropriately tracking the location where their employees are working. If employees have not yet returned to the office or will be permanently working from a different location (post-pandemic) then an evaluation of where the employer should be withholding must be conducted in order to comply with Ohio law. With the national trend of employees working from home, employers should carefully consider their withholding obligations.
For more information on employment taxes or your obligations, please contact Demetrius Robinson (djr@kjk.com or 614.427.5749) or any of our Tax professionals.