@laceysharpe wrote:
Thank you for the responses! I am surprised at how complicated this is and that I may have to pay multiple states tax on the same money :(
"For Maryland and VA, I think the bonus should probably be pro-rated. You had the NC job for 4 months, which is approximately 17 weeks or 85 work days, depending on whether you count holidays and so on. My thinking is that your taxable income in VA is 3 days of actual wages plus 3/85th of the bonus, and your taxable wages in MD would be 7 days of actual wages plus 7/85th of the bonus."
Lastly, I could be wrong on the bonus, and that it is only taxed in CA since that's where you were living when it was paid. That's the simplest case, because then you file a part-year CA return reporting only the income that was paid while living in CA (your old job plus the bonus). You file a part-year return in NC reporting all your wages from the new job, but not the bonus. You also file a non-resident return in VA and MD reporting 3/85th and 7/85ths of the wages, ignoring the bonus, and NC gives you a credit for the VA and MD tax you paid.
But the issue of where the bonus gets taxed is the one that will cause the most headache, and needs to be properly researched.
