Clear Money Guide
What this state guide covers
A quick view of the questions, practical details and source notes below.
Updated August 12, 2026. Quick answer: Yes. Ohio taxes a conversion like any other amount in your federal adjusted gross income — the flat 2.75% rate on income above $26,050 for 2026 — and the Department of Taxation says so by name: a rollover that recognises income included in federal AGI, “e.g. converting to a Roth IRA”, is taxable to Ohio. There is no exclusion; the retirement income credit is worth at most $200 and only below $100,000 of modified AGI.
Confidence note: high. Ohio’s own Retirement Income FAQ names converting to a Roth IRA as taxable, so this is not an inference from the general rule.
Why a conversion is a different question from a withdrawal
Almost every state summary answers “how does Ohio tax retirement income?” That is a question about distributions. A Roth conversion is not a distribution in the ordinary sense — it is a voluntary election to recognise income now in exchange for tax-free growth later. Whether a state’s retirement exclusion reaches that election is a separate question, and it is the one that decides your bill.
There is no exclusion to argue about here. Ohio’s relief for retirement income is a credit of at most $200 rather than a subtraction, it is capped by income, and it reaches only amounts received on account of retirement — which a voluntary conversion is not.
Because the state cost is certain, the lever that matters in Ohio is when and how much — splitting a conversion across tax years, or converting in a year of unusually low income, changes the bill in a way the $200 credit cannot.
What Ohio does with the converted amount
State income tax: flat 2.75% for TY2026 on income over $26,050 (0% below); HB 96 budget signed June 30, 2025 completed the move to a flat rate
How Ohio treats IRA and plan income: Pensions, 401(k) and IRA withdrawals taxable. modest nonrefundable credits: retirement income credit up to $200 (R.C. 5747.055), senior citizen credit $50 per return age 65+, both only if Ohio MAGI less exemptions is under $100,000; separate lump-sum credits.
Ohio names Roth conversions specifically, and taxes them.
The Department of Taxation treats a rollover that recognises income in federal adjusted gross income as taxable to Ohio at 2.75% above $26,050. The retirement income credit is worth at most $200 and only below $100,000 of modified adjusted gross income, so a conversion of any real size usually removes it. Both effects are worth pricing together.
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What to ask a preparer about Ohio
None on eligibility — the Department of Taxation names Roth conversions as taxable. Ask instead how splitting the conversion across two tax years changes the bracket outcome.
Converting around a move
Converting in the year you move into Ohio is the case that catches people. Residency at the moment of conversion is what generally determines which state gets to tax it, so a conversion executed a week before a move and one executed a week after can produce different bills.
Four separate taxes change when you move, not one: income tax on withdrawals, treatment of Social Security, estate tax, and inheritance tax. A state that looks good on conversions can be worse on the other three.
The state bill is the smaller half
Whatever Ohio does, the conversion is federal ordinary income first. The federal bracket you land in, and whether the conversion pushes you over an IRMAA threshold two years later, will usually move more money than the state line does. The state answer tells you whether to convert here; the federal answer tells you how much to convert at once.
Paying the tax from outside the account matters more than either. Using converted dollars to pay the bill shrinks the balance that was the entire point of converting.
Sources
Authority: Ohio Rev. Code § 5747.02 (rates, as amended by Am. Sub. H.B. 96, 2025); R.C. 5747.055 (retirement income credit); Ohio Dept. of Taxation Retirement Income FAQ.
Compiled from state statutes, session laws and revenue-department publications and adversarially verified in July 2026. Dataset confidence for Ohio: high.
This page states what the cited authority says. It is not tax advice, and a conversion large enough to matter is worth putting in front of a preparer who can see your whole return.
Nearby states
A flat rate makes the state arithmetic simple, which is exactly why it is worth seeing it next to the federal bill rather than on its own. The Roth conversion state tax calculator returns both, the share of the total each represents, and how much of the conversion lands in the Roth once the tax is paid.