@tbrown21 wrote:
You will have to file a part year resident NY return. The rule "necessity vs convenience" are rules for home office deduction, which is no longer available for W2 employees. If you work from home and your employer is in another state you only pay tax to your home state, which TX is 0. If you work in your employers state part time, then you have to pay tax to that state while you are working there. Good luck
No. NY is one of 6 states that taxes telework if it for the employee's convenience. This is separate from any home office deduction. If you work remotely for your convenience, NY assesses state income tax on those wages. (Also New Jersey, Nebraska, and some others, I forget which.)
For example, suppose you are a graphic designer for an NY firm. You could work anywhere and the company permits you to work from your home in Vermont. Your income is subject to NY income tax because you are teleworking for your own convenience. On the other hand, suppose you are a service technician for an equipment company and Vermont is your territory. You are working in Vermont for your employer's convenience, so your wages are not subject to the telework tax.
The tax positions involving where one works vs where one lives have, of course, been upended by the pandemic. And there are some legally interesting implications regarding sales tax and other factors besides employee income tax which are too complicated to discuss here. But the rule at issue in this post is not really changed by the pandemic; if you telework for an NY company for your own convenience you owe NY income tax. If the employer instructs you to telework, and you are not an NY resident, you are not subject to NY tax.
