Updated October 16, 2026. Quick answer: Only if you ask. Under Ohio law, “Any recipient may request the recipient’s retirement system or retirement plan” to withhold Ohio income tax from benefits.
More on public pension systems, topic by topic: Ohio SERS reemployment after retirement, Ohio SERS purchasable service credit and Ohio SERS divorce and support orders.
More on public pension systems, topic by topic: Ohio Police and Fire DROP.
Ohio pension withholding at a glance
| Item | What the documents say |
|---|---|
| Is state withholding required on regular pension payments? | No. A retirement system or plan withholds Ohio tax only if the recipient applies |
| Default rate if you give the payer no form | None stated; the amount is the state tax you estimate you will owe for the year |
| Lump sum or one-time payment | The statute read gives no separate lump-sum rule |
| Form to start, change or stop it | An application on a form the retirement system or plan supplies; the statute names no state form |
| Changed for 2026? | Ohio Revised Code 5747.071 as effective September 30, 2025 |
What the Ohio documents say
Section 5747.071 of the Ohio Revised Code covers withholding from retirement benefits. A recipient can ask the retirement system or retirement plan to withhold, and the application is made “on a form the system or plan shall supply”.
The application includes “an estimate from the recipient of the amount of state income taxes” that the recipient expects will be due for the year. Withholding starts with the calendar year following the year the application is filed, and the withheld amount is spread across that calendar year, and a recipient can “submit an amended application to increase or decrease the amount”.
The section read is shown as effective “September 30, 2025”.
What a mover should know
This page is about Ohio as a state of residence. An instruction line written for a nonresident or part-year filer is not the rule for a resident, and none of the documents read settles a part-year or two-state case, so check each state’s own rule. The federal side is the same everywhere; CMG’s federal 20% withholding on a pension lump sum page covers it, state tax withholding on IRA and 401(k) withdrawals in Ohio covers the account side, and state withholding on retirement withdrawals lists the other states checked.
What the documents do not say
- Only the statute was read: no Department of Taxation guide with pension text could be archived. The statute names no state form number, does not describe how to stop withholding, and gives no lump-sum rule.
Common mistakes
- Assuming the payer is withholding for the state because it withholds for the IRS: in Ohio a retirement system or plan withholds state tax only after the recipient files an application on the form it supplies, and withholding begins with the following calendar year.
- Assuming the answer for one state applies to another, or that state withholding settles the state tax owed at filing.
Related: state tax withholding on IRA and 401(k) withdrawals in Ohio, Ohio retirement taxes, whether Ohio taxes pensions, state withholding on retirement withdrawals, and retirement withholding calculator.
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Answer againSources
- Section 5747.071, Withholding tax from retirement benefits: https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5747.071
- IRS Tax Topic 413, Rollovers from retirement plans: https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc413
Sources: the primary documents linked above, read on October 16, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a tax professional or the state agency itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.