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Tax help for military filers

If you qualify for the New York exemption, you will need to file a NY non-resident return to get a refund of any tax withheld. To qualify for the exemption, you must meet the following requirements:

1. You did not maintain any permanent place of abode in New York State during the tax year;

2. You maintained a permanent place of abode outside New York State during the entire tax year; and

3. You spent 30 days or less (any part of a day is a day for this purpose) in New York State during the tax year.

As you work through your New York state return:

  • On the " We've Recommended a Residency Status" screen click Change Residency and choose Non-Resident.
  • When you get to the " New York Income Allocation" screen, make sure to click No, then on the next screen " Your Form W-2 Summary" click Done
  • Continue through to the screen titled " Changes to Federal Income".   Click Start next to Received military pay. (see screen shot)
  • On the "Military Pay" screen enter your federal and nonresident NY military wages (W-2 Box 1) (see screen shot)

This should exempt your military pay.

NOTE:  If your spouse is not a New York resident, the state requires you to file as Married Filing Separately, even if you filed a joint federal return.  The instructions above will not exempt your NY income if you file the state jointly when you should be filing separately.

The instructions to file a separate state return after filing jointly on your federal return can be found here:

Filing Separate State Returns After Filing Jointly for Federal