Need to file state taxes when you live and work in different states?
Most people in the U.S. live and work in the same state, which makes state taxes pretty easy to understand – you pay taxes to the state where you live and work.
But what if you live in one state and work in another? Do you pay taxes to the state where you live? Where you earn an income? Both?!
You need to pay taxes to both. Most likely you will end up having to file a resident return in the state where you live and a nonresident return in the state where you work.
Resident return
Generally you need to file a resident return in the state where you are a permanent resident. This state has the right to tax ALL of your income, wherever it was earned.
Nonresident return
After you file your resident return in your home state, you then need to go about filing a nonresident return in every other state where you earned money. A nonresident return only taxes you on the money you earned in that state. What often happens is that you withhold some income for each state tax.
Let’s take a real-world example.
Let’s say you live in New Jersey and commute to your NYC job Monday through Friday. Come tax time, you would need to file a resident return in NJ (reporting all of your income) and a nonresident return in NY (reporting only the income you earned in NY).
Worried about being double-taxed? Don’t be. You will have an opportunity to claim a credit for taxes paid to the nonresident state. They will then divide whatever has been withheld between them and the state whose tax liability was not exactly met will either give you a refund or a tax bill.
States without an income tax
There’s always an exception to the rule. In this case, there are seven exceptions. The five states with no income tax and the two states that only tax interest and dividends are the exclusions:
- Alaska
- Florida
- Nevada
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Washington
- Wyoming
- Tennessee
- New Hampshire
If you live in one of these states, you don’t need to file a resident return (unless you live in TN or NH and have interest and dividends income). But if you work in a state that does have an income tax you have to file a nonresident return in that state.
The same holds true when the situation is reversed. If you live in a state with an income tax, you must file a resident return there. But if you work in a state without an income tax, you don’t have to worry about filing a nonresident return.
Sound complicated? There’s a reason for that: it is. But let’s not stress because here’s all you really need to know. For this to work, every state needs to make agreements with every other state covering the income they could both theoretically tax. These agreements are structured to generate a minimum amount of paperwork and special cases: instead of having some workers who lives in a state but doesn’t pay taxes, the states have someone who lives in the state and pays taxes like everyone else — but gets a special tax credit at the end of the year.
In a situation like this, it’s often best to talk to your payroll department about how to proceed. In places with many out-of-state commuters (like New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, as well as cities near state borders), they will have the details on how each state treats out-of-state income.
Even if you have to file multiple state tax returns you can take care of them right here on RapidTax.
Hi,
About 1.5 years ago we moved to the state of WA from ND, when doing so I kept my same job for a ND company but was able to work from home in WA (a non income tax state). The company kept taking ND state income tax from my paycheck even though I was living in Washington state. Should they have? Last year I filed a ND state return not even thinking about it because we had lived in ND for half a year but this year is different since we’ve been in WA for all of 2015. Can you please advise?
If for some reason the company took ND income tax and shouldn’t have, can you advise me as to how I should try and get the money returned back to me, go the company or to the state?
I’ve tried talking to the company and they seemed confused over the situation and everyone else I ask doesn’t know.
Thank you,
Holly
Hi Holly,
Typically in situations like this, you are only responsible for the taxes where you are physically working and residing. If your company withholds taxes from another state accidentally, you can file a non-resident tax return for that state and report the amount withheld. You will also be asked to report the time you lived or worked in the state. Based on what you stated above, you will report that you lived and worked there 0 months out of the tax year. With that, you should expect a state tax refund.
If I live in a tax free state and have retirement income from a taxed state, Can I ask to have no taxes taken out of my retirement income check
Hi Mark,
This should not be a problem for you. In fact, based on your situation explained above, I strongly suggest speaking with your prior employer because your retirement income should not be taxed if you are no longer a resident of that state.
There is a law that was passed back in 1996 (the Pension Source Tax Act) that specifically states that, “No state may impose an income tax on any retirement income of an individual who is not a resident or domiciliary of such state.”
One thing to check into is residency requirements according to each state in question. The law still allows each state to concoct their own residency rules.
Please could you advise whats best in our situation. My employed is based in Tennessee (TN) and I currently live in Boston, MA. We are looking at options to move to South of New Hampshire because we could afford a reasonable size property there compared to any greater Boston area. I see that both states (NH and TN) are income tax free. Please could you point us what are the pros and cons (in terms of taxes) to live in NH or MA ? Will there be any benefit moving to NH and work for employer based in TN ? Many thanks.
Hi Ally,
Based solely on a tax perspective, the wiser choice would be residing in New Hampshire. For one, they are an income tax-free state while Massachusetts taxes income at a flat rate of 5.15%. Secondly, although property taxes are higher than average in New Hampshire, Massachusetts rates are about the same so it wouldn’t be as if you were catching a break in that department. Keep in mind that Massachusetts also enforces an estate tax whereas New Hampshire does not.
I live in Connecticut the whole year of 2015. My job was transferring me to Florida. The job was cancelled therefore I never left, but my W-2 block E still has a Florida address while block 15 shows CT & NJ.
What do I do? How do I correct this?
Hi Keith,
Although this should be updated with your current address information, this will not affect your tax information. The IRS will refer to the address(es) listed on your tax return; not on your W-2. I suggest updating this information with your payroll department and making sure to file your tax return(s) with the correct address.
I am going to be moving soon with a Job in South Carolina. It is right on the border of North Carolina. SC has an income tax rate of 7.0 and NC has an income tax rate of 5.75. Is it worth it to live in NC over SC tax wise?
Hi John,
Congratulations on the new job!
From a tax perspective, there are a few factors to compare. While North Carolina has lower income and sales tax rates, South Carolina has lower overall property tax rates. It may be better for you to live and work in South Carolina so that there are few complications when it comes to filing taxes for two different states.