Pilot reported elevator trim was unresponsive to control inputs and elected to make an air turn back and precautionary landing at departure airport.

Narrative

On a personal flight; we were flying a Cessna 182 departing from ZZZ when the trim system of the aircraft failed. Electric trim did not produce the desired result and manual trim wheel spun freely with no change in trim. During the preflight inspection; the electric and manual trim performed normally and trim tab moved as expected with elevator movement. The trim was set to the takeoff setting as described in the checklist. Upon takeoff; the Pilot Flying notified me of the trim not working as I was tuning frequencies during the climb. We leveled at a safe altitude about 3 nautical miles north of the airport to troubleshoot and decided to return to the airport. Transfer of controls and command authority were transferred to me as it required excessive force to keep the aircraft in a level and descent attitude and the Pilot Flying was quickly becoming fatigued. Descent and pre-landing checklists were completed and the flight landed without incident. The Fixed Base Operator and Flight School the aircraft was rented from were immediately notified and the aircraft removed from service for maintenance. Upon post-flight inspection; the elevator trim tab was found stuck in place and did not move as expected when the elevator was moved by hand. The electric trim switch did not actuate the trim system although noise from the motor was heard. The manual trim wheel spun freely with no resistance when moved. I believe that the cable used to move the elevator trim tab became dislodged from the manual trim wheel and became trapped somewhere along its travel route.