2022 Tax amendment for CA and NY to fix to RSU allocation

[standun]

Hi Forum,

I’d appreciate help confirming that I’m handling this correctly.

Background

• I moved from CA to NY in December 2021 and stayed with the same employer.

• For tax year 2022, I mistakenly reported all income as NY income and $0 CA income.

• I now need to amend my NY return to get a refund and file/amend CA to pay tax on CA-sourced RSU income.

W-2 / income details

• My W-2 appears to overstate CA wages, since I worked 100% in NY during 2022.

  • My January paycheck still showed CA state wages, likely because payroll hadn’t updated my location yet. I don’t think this can be corrected now.

  • RSU allocation matches my records, so no issue there.

  • I also see a December CA state taxable wage amount on a statement, and I’m not sure where it came from. The only possibility I can think of is my bonus, but that was paid earlier in the year.

• My W-2 income consists only of salary, bonus, and RSUs, all from the same employer.

Questions

1. For CA wages, should I use the CA amount shown in Box 16 of the W-2, or should I use my own allocation/calculation?
   I’m leaning toward using the W-2 amount even if it’s slightly overstated, because I’m concerned CA could challenge it later (CA has a 4-year statute of limitations).

2. I expected NY to fully credit the CA tax I pay, but it looks like the NY credit is lower than the CA tax owed.
   My understanding is:

   • CA taxes me at a higher marginal rate (around 8% over $66k) than NY (5.85%).

   • CA determines the tax rate using total W-2 income, even though only a portion is CA-sourced.
     Is this understanding correct?

3. I plan to amend NY first, receive the refund, and then amend/file CA. ChatGPT suggested this approach.
   Is there any risk in doing it in this order?

4. For the NY amendment, I’m filing IT-201-X and IT-112-R (CA).
   Are these the only NY forms I need?

5. Can I e-file my NY amended return, or does it have to be paper-filed?

Thank you very much. Sorry for the long questions. Want to make sure I am not missing anything.

[standun]

Hi Turbotax expert,

I am a bit confused if it is possible to e-file NY tax amend vs. paper amendment.  In Turbotax, it said that that e-file is required by NY but also say that I have to file by mail since e-filling is closed for the season.

Same question for CA amendment.

[RobertB4444 · Accepted solution]

1.  Use the W2 amount.  You are correct that too much time has passed to correct the W2.  

2.  and  3.  The California return should be done first.  Always do the non-resident (or part year resident as your W2 has made you) return first and then you do your resident return to take your credit.  NY does have a maximum allowed credit so you may end up spending more in California than NY gives you credit for.  But ignore Chat GPT on this one and do the non-resident return first.

4.  No.  You'll need to re-file any forms with New York that have changed numbers.  Because of the California and RSU income that could be a lot of them.  And California didn't get an original return since you didn't live there.  So you will need to file a complete tax return with them.

5.  You can't efile a return that is more than three years old.  You're going to have to paper file all of these.

[standun]

Hi RobertB4444,

Thank you very much. Your advice is what I am thinking as well except for filing CA first since   am just a bit concerned that I would have to pay CA first but not sure if there is a risk that I may not get credit back from NY.

I want to clarify that I did file CA since there was CA withholding at the time and I filed 2022 as nonresident to claim back all the withholding.

Not looking forward to paper file but doesn't look like I have a choice.