Figure out if you need to file a New York return and then take care of it on RapidTax
There are three categories of people who have to file a New York State return: residents, nonresidents, and part-year residents. All three categories have different reasons for filing.
Residents
New York residents are pretty much those people who live permanently in New York State. Officially a resident is anyone whose domicile is in New York or whose domicile is not in NY but who maintained a permanent place of abode in NY for more than 11 months of the year and spent at least 184 days here.
Obviously there are exceptions, but they are relatively few and far between. You can find the definition of a resident and the exceptions here.
Generally New York residents must file Form IT-201 Resident Income Tax Return if they were also required to file a federal return. They must pay tax on ALL of their income no matter where it was earned.
In certain cases you may have to file a NY return even if you didn’t have to file a federal return, such as when your federal adjusted gross income plus New York additions is more than $4,000 ($3,000 for single people who can be claimed as a dependent by someone else).
Nonresidents
Nonresidents are people who live in a state other than New York.
Nonresidents must file Form IT-203 Nonresident and Part-Year Resident Income Tax Return if they had New York source income. This includes people who commute to New York for work as well as a variety of other circumstances. You can see the full definition of New York source income here.
However, you do not need to file a return if your New York adjusted gross income (the federal column of line 31 on Form IT-203) is less than your NY standard deduction (which depends on your filing status).
Part-year residents
Part-year residents are those who moved into or out of New York during the tax year. Generally as a part-year resident you must file Form IT-203 Nonresident and Part-Year Resident Income Tax Return if you had any income during the period when you were a resident or any New York source income during the time you were a nonresident.
Other reasons to file
There are a variety of other reasons why you may have to file a New York return, even if you don’t fall into any of the categories above, including if
- NYS, NYC, or Yonkers taxes were withheld from your pay and you want to claim a refund
- you want to claim refundable or carryover credits
- you’re subject to NYS minimum income tax
- you had a net operating loss for NYS personal income tax purposes, but not for federal tax purposes
If you do need to file a New York return, you can do so right here on RapidTax. We’ll take care of your federal and state returns at the same time.
Photo via Vincent on Flickr.
Hello,
I moved to New York in July last year, but my income was coming from a company based in CT for the rest of the tax year. I paid and filed my federal and CT state taxes but didn’t file anything for New York. Should have I?
The answer depends on what state was reported in Boxes 15-20 on your W-2. If CT and NY both appear, then you should have filed a Part Year CT and Part Year NY return. If just one of the states appear, then you would only have to file for the state that appears. (This only applies for Part-Year Residency)
That doesn’t seem quite right – if you moved to NY, you should allocate your income to NY starting when your residency began. If only one state was withheld, you’d likely get a refund from CT and owe NY since none was withheld.
My 22 year old son worked for a professor last summer (summer 2016) at RPI in Troy NY. We live in North Carolina so this is my son’s permanent address. His gross wages were $4200, therefore he does not need to file a federal tax return. He had $88.56 in NY state tax withheld – so he paid some tax. Does he need to file?
Hello!
I am a nonresident of New York (I am here on a exchance visa.) So I am also not a resident of any other state. Does that mean I am not required to pay New York State taxes?
A non-resident must pay income taxes to the IRS but only on the income that was earned in the US. When you prepare your US tax return, you must use Form 1040NR or the shorter 1040NR-EZ, if eligible. Regardless of the form you use, you will only report amounts that are considered US-source income. If you are a New York State non-resident, you must file a non-resident return.
For the federal tax return, you might be treated as non-resident if you are here on an exchange visa, even though you actually live here. But for the state return, is it true that the visa type does not govern but the actual place that you live? So that in Lisa’s case, if she is living (full-time 12 months, for example) in any state, wouldn’t she be considered as a resident for STATE tax purposes?
I am confused with all this NYC stuff. My husband and I live in NJ He works in NJ but I work in Staten Island. Is SI considered NYC? Can we still file joint or do I just need to file in NY?
Hi Lynda,
As one of the five boroughs, Staten Island is considered a part of NYC; even for tax purposes. You can still file a joint return. However, I suggest filing a joint federal and resident NJ tax return. You can file a separate NY non resident tax return so that the tax will not be calculated based on a combined income.
I am a 69 year old that moved to New York in November of last year. I only collect Social Security. Have not worked in over a year. Why do I have to file a New York State return for 2015? I was filing my federal online and it wont let me continute unless I file a State Return
Hi Fran,
I am sorry to hear that you’re experiencing issues online. Are you preparing your return with RapidTax? If so, please feel free to give our tax team a call at 877-289-7580. One of our representatives will be able to locate your account and give you step by step instructions of how to proceed.