Get your taxes done using TurboTax

Your payroll department can help. They should have access to time sheets and other records that can give you an accurate picture of your earnings before and after your move date.   If your W-2 has the information broken down by state and it accurately represents your wages in each state, you can use those figures in Box 16.   Your payroll department can answer most of your questions and you should be able to trust that your employer is giving you accurate tax forms.   They may need to correct your W-2 if there are discrepancies, so check with them before you file.  You don't want to do an amendment later for a corrected W-2.    

How to Allocate Income for Part-Year State Returns -  There is an example of your situation in that HELP article.   Any of the methods discussed can be used (for earned income) and they are listed at the bottom of this reply.   

You should correct the wages in the W-2 section as long as you can substantiate it with the pay stubs.  The important actions are to report the correct amount of income and tax withholding to the correct state of residency because you moved during the year.   Do not change the withholding amounts.   The state withholding shown on the W-2 is where the tax was paid.   

Differences in Box 1 vs.  Box 16/18 -  Part-year residents follow each state's rules. Some states separate the income and tax only their state's income. Or a state may calculate the tax on all of the income as if you were a resident, and then allocate the tax based on in-state sources as a percentage of all sources.   The differences relate to what wage amounts are taxable in each case.  Pre-tax benefits will also cause the numbers to be different.  Wages that are not taxable on the federal return may be taxable on your state return or vice versa.

Living and Working in Multiple States   

Understanding Your W-2 Wages - a quick look at the differences between the amounts in Box 1 and Box 16 (Fed and State tax base).

METHODS FOR ALLOCATING EARNED INCOME  (from the HELP article linked above)

Some companies will send you a W-2 with the state totals listed, others will send you two separate W-2s for each state. If not or they didn't change the withholding to the second state, then you’ll have to estimate how much income you earned as a resident of one state versus the other. Here are a few ways to do that:

Method 1: This is the simplest method of all and the most accurate if your income fluctuates from paycheck to paycheck.

Find a pay stub with the pay period ending around the time of your move. The YTD (year-to-date) amount on the pay stub is how much you earned while residing in your former state.

Method 2: This method is pretty accurate as long as your income is more or less the same from paycheck to paycheck.

Estimate the number of weeks/months you worked at that job while a resident of one state and divide it by the total number of weeks/months you worked at that job to come up with a factor.  Apply the factor to your total income from that job to come up with the allocation for that state.   For example, if you worked at that same job the entire year and moved in early May, you earned roughly 4 months' worth of income (1/3 or 33% of your total income) in your old state.  Multiply the total income from that job by .33 to obtain the allocation for your former state. The remainder gets allocated to your new state.

Method 3: This method is the most accurate, but it also assumes your income is more or less the same from paycheck to paycheck.  First, find the Julian date of your move (also called an ordinal date).  Search for Julian date in your favorite search engine.

• For example, if you moved on August 8, 2022, the Julian date is 220, which simply means August 8 is the 220th day of 2022.

Then divide your Julian date by 365 to come up with a factor, which should be less than 1. Apply your factor to the year's total income from that job to get the income allocation for your former state. The remainder is allocated to your new state.