Lorain to offer online income tax filing for 2025 tax year

LORAIN — With tax season fast approaching, Lorain plans to start accepting e-filings for its city income taxes this year. On Tuesday, Council approved a contract with Innovative Software Services Inc. to offer the services to taxpayers starting this year. The service will cost the city about $44,000 for the first year, and about $36,000 each year thereafter in annual maintenance and hosting fees. At the start of the year, the city's Income Tax Department shut off its fax machine and, once the e-filing system is up and running at the end of February, will start transitioning away from accepting tax documents via email, Treasurer Terri Soto said Wednesday. Income Tax Department staff will receive training on the new software in the coming weeks, she said, and asked residents to be patient when using the filing system in its inaugural tax season. "I'm confident there should be minimal issues," Soto said. It has been more than a decade since the city accepted income tax e-filings, after moving away from a previous vendor in 2014. Soto said at that time, only about 300 filers used the system. The new software, CityTax E-File, operated by Innovative Software Services Inc., was piloted in Akron and Findlay before Lorain moved forward with its contract, she said. Part of the delay in implementing a new e-filing system was the lack of third-party vendors to choose from, and Soto's concern with security breaches other area's e-filing systems have faced. Reopening e-filing was one of Soto's priorities for bringing her department into the 21st century, she said, alongside offering electronic bank transfers, creating an amnesty program and contracting with the Attorney General's Office for collections. "I'm glad to see it's a check on my bucket list," she said. "It's very hard to be a tax collector, but we do a great job, we do it with compassion and confidentiality." Even with the convenience of e-filing soon available, the city's Income Tax Department will remain open to residents wishing to file in person, or who have questions or concerns this tax season, Soto said. As in years past, it will offer extended hours as April 15 nears — though Soto hopes the online system will help alleviate some of the lines in-person filers usually face in the last week or two before the deadline. Paying any owed income taxes online will carry the same $4 convenience fee as paying via electronic payment in person, Soto said. For more information on Lorain income taxes, including a list of its extended hours, contact the department at (440) 204-1002 or email incometax@cityoflorain.org. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.