If you worked in two states or moved: which state returns to file

Three kinds of state returns

• Resident: the state where you're domiciled taxes all your income, wherever it comes from.
• Nonresident: a state where you don't live taxes only income from sources in that state, such as wages for work you did there.
• Part-year resident: if you changed your domicile during the year, each state taxes you for the time you lived there.

Your domicile is the place where you live and intend to return to when you're away. Leaving for a while doesn't change it. Some states also treat you as a resident even if your domicile is elsewhere: for example, New York if you keep a permanent home there for substantially all of the year and spend 184 days or more in the state.

You live in one state and work in another

You usually file two returns: a nonresident return in the state where you worked, for the wages you earned there, and a resident return in the state where you live, with all your income. On the resident return you claim a credit for the tax you paid the other state, so you don't pay twice on the same income.

• Each state has its own form: for example, Schedule S in California, Schedule CR in Illinois or Schedule OSC in Virginia.
• Many states ask you to attach a copy of the other state's return. Pennsylvania denies the credit if you don't provide it.
• Almost always, the credit is claimed in the state where you're a resident, not in the state where you only worked. There are a few exceptions (for example, between Virginia and Arizona, California or Oregon) where it's claimed on the nonresident return.
• Tax withheld by the other state is claimed on that state's return, not as withholding on your home state's return.

Reciprocal agreements

Some neighboring states agreed that, for wages, only the state where you live taxes you. If that's your case, you give your employer an exemption form so only your home state's tax is withheld. If the state where you work withheld anyway, you file a nonresident return there to get it back. These agreements cover wages only, not other income. Some examples:

Watch out with Maryland: if you live in Pennsylvania and work in Maryland, the agreement only exempts you from the state part; you may still owe the tax of the Maryland county where you work, with some exceptions. In Virginia, the District of Columbia and Kentucky agreements are for people who commute every day, and the Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia agreements are for people present in Virginia 183 days or less who don't keep a home there. In both cases, only if wages are your only Virginia income.

If you moved during the year

You usually file a part-year resident return in each state. Each one taxes what you earned while you lived there, plus income from sources in that state while you lived elsewhere. For example, Pennsylvania uses the first day you're physically in your new home as the date of the change, and Illinois taxes 100% of what you received as a resident and only Illinois-source income for the rest of the year.

If you keep working remotely for an employer in your old state, check its rules. California taxes based on where you physically do the work. New York, on the other hand, counts days you work from home for your own convenience as New York workdays if your office is there, unless your employer has a bona fide office where you work.

States with no tax on wages

Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming don't tax wages. Washington does tax some capital gains and, starting January 1, 2028, will tax adjusted gross income over $1 million at 9.9%. If you live in one of these states and work in one that taxes wages, you usually file only the nonresident return in the state where you work: your home state has no return to claim a credit on.

Practical steps

• Check boxes 15 to 17 of your W-2: they show the state, state wages and state tax withheld. If tax was withheld in more than one state, you'll see more than one line.
• When you start working in another state, fill out that state's withholding form (for example, IL-W-4 in Illinois or MW507 in Maryland). In Illinois, for example, if you don't turn it in, your employer withholds on your entire pay with no exemptions.
• Tell the IRS your new address with Form 8822 (it takes about 45 days) or by putting it on your return.
• Moving expenses can't be deducted on your federal return, except for active-duty military moving under military orders (and, starting in 2026, some intelligence-community employees).
• Find each state's tax agency on USA.gov.