You have residency in two states, NM where you lived until you completed school and then CA when you moved there after school.
If the filing requirements are met then you must file a return in all three states. Although the time in AZ does require a tax return due to earning money there, you were staying there temporarily while attending school and did not change your residency from NM.
- NM as a part year resident until your move to CA, claim a credit for taxes paid to another state ONLY for the AZ income if there is tax liability charged in AZ for the income earned while going to school there.
- CA as a part year resident - no credit for taxes paid to another state
- AZ as a nonresident - no credit for taxes paid to another state.
Credit for taxes paid to another state is allowed by a resident state when the same income is being taxed to another state. Your resident state does not want you to pay tax twice on the same income. The credit that is allowed will be the lesser of:
- the tax liability actually charged by the nonresident state, OR
- the tax liability that would have been charged by your resident state
As per @ErnieS0 you must make the final determination about your residency. If you decided you were a part year resident in all three states, then you would file as such on all three states. The information provided above seems the accurate based on your specific situation.
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