Your locality name for taxes is the legal name of the city, township, borough, village, or school district that has authority to collect local income tax where you live or work. It is not necessarily the city printed on your mailing address. Around 15 states and the District of Columbia authorize local income taxes, and inside those states the correct name comes from the political boundary your home or workplace actually sits within, not the post office that delivers your mail.
Why Your Mailing Address Is Not the Answer
The U.S. Postal Service draws delivery routes for efficiency, not to trace municipal lines. You can receive mail addressed to “Springfield” while living in an adjacent township with a different tax rate, or none at all. Local governments assess income tax based on the legal boundary your residence falls inside, so the ZIP-code city and the taxing jurisdiction are two separate systems that only sometimes line up.
This matters because paying the wrong locality does not satisfy the correct one. You still owe the right jurisdiction, and you have to chase a refund from the one that received your money by mistake. In parts of the Northeast and Midwest, several municipalities with similar names can border each other closely, each with its own rate and collector.
Check Box 20 of Your W-2 First
If you are an employee, the fastest answer is on your W-2. Employers report local tax information in Boxes 18 through 20: Box 18 shows local wages, Box 19 shows local income tax withheld, and Box 20 shows the locality name.1Internal Revenue Service. General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 (2026) – Specific Instructions for Form W-2 The name in Box 20 often appears as an abbreviation, such as “NYC” for New York City.
A blank Box 20 usually means your employer withheld no local income tax, either because your work location does not impose one or because the employer is not set up to collect it. And the name in Box 20 reflects where your employer withheld, which is generally your work location. If you live in a different taxing jurisdiction, you may owe tax to your home locality on top of what appears on the W-2. Some areas offer a credit for tax paid to a work locality, but you still need to identify both names when you file.
If You Do Not Have a W-2
Your Property Tax Bill
A property tax bill is one of the most reliable places to confirm the exact legal name of your taxing jurisdiction. The bill lists each entity taking a share of your property tax, typically a county, a municipality, and a school district, with their full legal names spelled out. Renters can ask a landlord or property manager, or look up the parcel on the county assessor’s website.
Form 1099-NEC and Self-Employment
Independent contractors do not get local tax information on Form 1099-NEC. The form reports only state-level withholding in Boxes 5 through 7.2Internal Revenue Service. Form 1099-NEC (Rev. April 2025) Self-employed workers have to identify the locality themselves. The state department of revenue website is the best starting point; most states with local income taxes publish lookup tools and rate tables tied to your home address.
State Address Lookups
Most states with local income taxes offer an address-to-jurisdiction lookup on their revenue department site. You enter a full street address, not a P.O. Box, and the tool returns the legal name of your taxing municipality along with any applicable code or rate. These tools cross-reference your address against official boundary maps, so they are far more accurate than guessing from a ZIP code. Results often include a numeric identifier, sometimes called a political subdivision code, that appears on employer withholding forms. Databases are updated for annexations, mergers, and rate changes, so it is worth rechecking each year, especially after a move. If the state tool cannot resolve your address, your county government office can confirm which municipality or township has taxing authority over the property.
The Census Geocoder
The U.S. Census Bureau maintains a free geocoder that matches any U.S. street address to the geographic entities that contain it, including counties, municipalities, and census-designated places.3United States Census Bureau. Census Geocoder It does not provide tax rates, but it helps pin down the correct legal name of your municipality when other sources are unclear.
School Districts Are Often a Separate Locality
In some states, school districts levy their own income tax on top of, or in place of, a municipal income tax. When that applies, your state return asks for a school district name and a numeric code, often four digits. School district lines regularly cross city and township boundaries, so the district name can be nothing like your municipality name. Liability follows where you live, not where you work.
The code usually appears in the instruction booklet that accompanies your state return, or on the department of revenue or education website. Entering the wrong district number can route your payment to a neighboring system and leave a balance unpaid in the district where you actually live. Owning property in a district where you do not reside, such as a rental or vacation home, generally does not create school district income tax liability there, because the tax is tied to your primary residence.
Remote Work Can Involve Two Locality Names
For remote workers, the locality depends on where you physically perform the work and on your employer’s rules. The traditional approach taxes wages where you actually do the job, so a full-time home worker owes local tax at home even if the company’s office is elsewhere.
A small number of jurisdictions apply a “convenience of the employer” test. If you work from home for your own convenience rather than at your employer’s requirement, those jurisdictions may treat your wages as earned at the office location. Two localities, your home and the office, can then each claim the same wages. Most home jurisdictions offer a credit for tax paid to another locality, though the credit does not always fully cancel the overlap. Check what your employer is actually withholding, for which jurisdiction, and be prepared to file in both if needed.
If You Moved During the Year
Moving from one local taxing jurisdiction to another mid-year generally means you owe tax to each for the portion of the year you lived there. The usual method is to prorate annual income by the number of days in each locality. Notify your employer promptly after a move so withholding shifts to the new jurisdiction; until it does, paychecks may keep showing the old locality in Box 20. Some jurisdictions require a part-year return, others accept a full-year return with a prorated calculation, so read the filing instructions for each locality involved.
If the Locality Name Is Wrong
Wrong Name on Your W-2
Ask your employer to issue a corrected Form W-2c. The W-2c has a dedicated section for correcting Boxes 18, 19, and 20, showing both the previously reported and corrected local wage, tax, and locality information.4Internal Revenue Service. Form W-2c (Rev. January 2026) Corrected Wage and Tax Statement If your employer has not fixed it by the end of February, you can call the IRS at 800-829-1040 to file a formal W-2 complaint. The IRS will contact the employer and, if needed, send you Form 4852 to use as a substitute W-2 so you can file on time.5Internal Revenue Service. W-2 – Additional, Incorrect, Lost, Non-Receipt, Omitted
Payment Went to the Wrong Locality
When tax was paid to the wrong municipality, you have to request a refund from that jurisdiction directly. Each locality handles refunds through its own tax office or regional collector, and timing varies. At the same time, file a return and pay what you owe the correct locality; moving quickly limits interest and penalty exposure on the balance you actually owe. Keep records of every exchange with both jurisdictions, and if the error came from your employer, ask them to fix withholding so the next paycheck does not repeat it.