Frequently Asked Questions - Income

When do I have to disclose sources of income?

It depends on the public position for which you are filing.

Most filers disclose all sources of income, regardless of the amount of income received from the source. However, the following filers are only required to disclose sources of income valued at over $500:

Trustee for a College or University; or
City Elected Officer, Candidate, or Appointee in a position paid less than $16,000 per year; or
Member of the Board of Directors of a Sanitary District; or
Member, Candidate, or Appointee to a position on a School District Board of Education or ESC Governing Board; or
The chief investment officer and any director of JobsOhio and any other officer or employee of JobsOhio with significant administrative, supervisory, contracting, or investment authority.

R.C. 102.02(A)(2)(b); R.C. 102.022(A).

What is “income”?

“Income” is defined in R.C. 102.01(E). It includes:

"Gross income” as defined and used in the “Internal Revenue Code of 1986,” 100 Stat. 2085, 26 U.S.C. 1, as amended;
Interest and dividends on obligations or securities of any state or of any political subdivision or authority of any state or political subdivision; and
Interest and dividends on obligations of any authority, commission, or instrumentality of the United States.

What are some examples of “gross income”?

“Gross income” is defined in the Internal Revenue Code, 26 USC 61, to include all income from whatever source derived, including but not limited to:

Compensation for services, including fees, commissions, fringe benefits, and similar items;
Gross income derived from business;
Gains derived from dealings in property;
Interest;
Rents;
Royalties;
Dividends;
Alimony and separate maintenance payments;
Annuities;
Income from life insurance and endowment contracts;
Pensions;
Income from the discharge of indebtedness;
Distributive share of a partnership gross income;
Income in respect of decedent; and
Income from an interest in an estate or trust.

If you considered a particular item of income to be gross income for federal tax purposes, regardless of whether you ultimately paid taxes on the item, you should disclose the source of the item on your Financial Disclosure Statement.

If I receive federal funds (unemployment benefits, disability, SSI, school grants etc.), is that considered income?

If the funds are gross income as defined in the Internal Revenue Code, you must disclose the source of the income on your FDS. Some of these items may be gross income. For example, unemployment benefits are generally gross income. For guidance on this question, you may wish to contact the IRS or a tax professional.

Are workers’ compensation benefits income?

Is money received from a court settlement or judgment considered income?

If the funds are “gross income” as defined in the Internal Revenue Code, you must disclose the source of the income on your FDS. For guidance on this question, you may wish to contact the IRS or a tax professional.

If I won a prize (through lottery, gambling, charity raffle, or other similar game or contest), do I have to disclose the source on my FDS? If so, what should I disclose?

If the prize is “gross income” as defined in the Internal Revenue Code, you must disclose the source of the income on your FDS. For guidance on this question, you may wish to contact the IRS or a tax professional.

If the prize is “gross income,” you would disclose the source (Ohio Lottery, ABC Casino, raffle organizer, etc.) and the fact that it is a prize on your FDS.

Is child support income?

If the child support is “gross income” as defined in the Internal Revenue Code, you must disclose the source of the income on your FDS. For guidance on this question, you may wish to contact the IRS or a tax professional.

One of my relatives died last year, and I was a beneficiary on her life insurance policy. Are the proceeds from the life insurance policy considered income? If so, do I list the name of the deceased policyholder or the insurance company?

If you receive the proceeds of a life insurance policy, and they are “gross income” as defined in the Internal Revenue Code, you must disclose the source of the income on your FDS. For guidance on this question, you may wish to contact the IRS or a tax professional.

If the insurance proceeds are gross income, you would disclose both the name of the policyholder and the insurance company as the source of the proceeds.

If I do not cash out my dividends or interest from my investments (retirement, stocks, mutual funds, etc.) but roll them over into the investment, do I have to list them as a source of income?

As long as the rolled over interest or earnings are not considered “gross income” as defined in the Internal Revenue Code in the year when you roll them over, you are not required to disclose the source of the earnings on your disclosure statement. You will be required to disclose the investments on this statement as investments regardless of whether you receive income from them.

When you decide to take any disbursals or earnings from an investment, you are required to disclose the source of the item if it is considered “gross income” as defined in the Internal Revenue Code. For guidance on this question, you may wish to contact the IRS or a tax professional.

Do I have to list the source of a scholarship or grant as a source of income?

If all, or a portion, of the scholarship or grant is “gross income” as defined in the Internal Revenue Code, you must disclose the source of the income on your FDS. For guidance on this question, you may wish to contact the IRS or a tax professional.

For more information about scholarships, see Chapter 1 of Publication 970.

Am I required to disclose the amount of income I received from each source of income that I disclose on my financial disclosure statement?

The answer depends on both the public position you hold and the source of the income.

Public position:

You are never required to disclose the amount of income you receive from a source if you are filing the statement because you are a member of the board of trustees of a state college or university, or are an officer, employee, or candidate for an elected office in a political subdivision, and the compensation for the position you hold is less than $16,000 annually. R.C. 102.022.

Source of income:

If you are filing the statement because you hold any other public position, you are not required to disclose the amount of income received from a source unless you know or have reason to know that the source is doing or seeking to do business of any kind with your public agency, or is a legislative agent. R.C. 102.02(A)(2)(b)(i).

If I left my state job last September to start a new private job in October, do I have to disclose my new employer as a source of income for the rest of the year?

Yes. You are required to disclose every source of income received during the preceding calendar year in your own name or by any other person for your use or benefit. Because you earned income from both a public employer and a private employer during the year for which you are filing, you must disclose both as sources of income.

Continuing the last question, if the company that I work for now does business with my former public employer, do I have to disclose the amount of income I received from October through December?

Yes. You are required to disclose the amount of income received from your private employer, or any other source of income, if the source is doing or seeking to do business with the public agency you served. R.C. 102.02(A)(2)(b)(i).

If I am the beneficiary of a trust, and I received income from the trust, what do I disclose as the source of the income?

You are required to disclose both the trust, and the sources of income to the trust, as sources of income to you. Adv. Op. No. 2005-01.

My spouse is employed. Do I have to disclose his employer as a source of income to me? What if his paycheck is direct-deposited into our joint bank account?

You are usually not required to disclose your spouse’s sources of income on your financial disclosure statement. Unless his income is earned for your use or benefit (for example: it is paid by his employer into a trust and you are the beneficiary of the trust), you are not required to disclose your spouse’s employer as a source of income to you. Even if your spouse’s check is direct deposited into your joint account, it is not being paid to him for your use or benefit, and you do not have to disclose his employer as a source of income. Adv. Op. No. 75-036.

I own rental property. What is the source of income to me — the tenants or the property?

Whoever pays the income to you is the source of the income. If your tenant pays rent, or someone else pays on their behalf, and the payments are made directly to you, you would disclose the tenant or person paying on their behalf as the source of income.

If the tenant pays rent to an LLC or corporation, and the LLC or corporation pays you, you would disclose the LLC or corporation as the source of income. Either way, you would disclose “rental property” as the service provided.

I received a Form 1099-G. Do I report it as income?

If you report any amount from your Form 1099-G on your federal income tax return, then you should disclose it on your financial disclosure statement. Adv. Op. No. 2005-01. For guidance on this question, you may wish to contact the IRS or a tax professional.

Federal, state, or local governments file the 1099-G form if they made payments of:

unemployment compensation;
state or local income tax refunds, credits, or offsets;
reemployment trade adjustment assistance (RTAA) payments;
taxable grants;
agricultural payments; or
a Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) loan.

Also reportable on a 1099-G are taxes on dividends, net gains from the sale or exchange of a capital asset, and on the net taxable income of an unincorporated business, payments made under state grant, incentive, subsidy, or other individual assistance programs. https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1099g

Source of income:

The payer’s name on the Form 1099-G is the source of this income.

Service provided:

The service you provided depends on which box of the form the amount is listed. If the amount is listed in Box 2, then the service provided is for “State or local income tax refunds, credits, or offsets.” A filer may provide a more specific description of the service, but it is not required.

Financial Disclosure FAQs