I lived in NY fewer than 183 days in 2020 (stayed from January 1 2020 to May 6 2020 and came back to NY on December 27 2020). Which state is my state of residence?

[SweetieJean]

Well, read this.  It appears that the answer hinges upon you "domicile."  For example, were you away on a temporary basis (say, for a one time job assignment, or an extended vacation, or for schooling or military service, or incarcerated)?   Did you always plan to return to NY?  etc.

Income tax definitions (ny.gov)

[TomD8]

In the personal info section of TurboTax, your "State of Residence" is the state in which your domicile was located as of December 31, 2020.  The reference provided by @SweetieJean defines the term domicile.

[dhy08sl]

Thank you for the information. I am still a little confused about the definition of domicile. I am an international student with F1 visa in a state university of NY. During 2020, I did an internship in IA for seven months. I don't have any permanent residence in NY.  My residence address all depends on my job situation.  I rent an apartment at the working state for the period while I was working. I am wondering in this case if I am counted as a resident , or partial-year resident or nonresident of New York/IA? Thank you very much.

[dhy08sl]

Thank you for the reply. I went to IA for an internship (7 months). I think both IA and NY is my temporary place to stay (not very sure). I am a PhD student who hasn't graduated yet. I have started working since I have finished all coursework and will graduate soon. I may move to Indiana in May 2021. Currently I am working from home in NY due to COVID-19. I am still confused which state I should choose as domicile for 2020 tax year? Could you please advise? Thank you!

[TomD8 · Accepted solution]

Since your stay in Iowa was intended to be (and actually was) temporary, with no intent to reside permanently in Iowa, you would file in Iowa as a non-resident (if you had Iowa-source income and have to file an Iowa return).  See example (b) on page 4 of this Iowa tax reference:

https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/iac/rule/11-02-2011.701.38.17.pdf

Since you were living in NY prior to going to Iowa, and evidently intended to return to NY after your temporary stay in Iowa, I would regard NY as your domicile state.  This would be reinforced if you have a NY drivers license, NY bank account, etc.

So, if this scenario is accurate, and if you had Iowa-source income, you would file two state returns: a non-resident return in Iowa reporting your Iowa-source income, and a resident return in NY, reporting ALL your income, including your Iowa earnings, if any.  In the Personal Info section of TurboTax, you would enter NY as your state of residence, and you would indicate (if true) that you had other state earnings from Iowa.  You would NOT indicate that you moved to or from Iowa.   Then, in TurboTax, you would complete your non-resident state return first, before your home state return, so that you receive credit from NY for the taxes paid to Iowa on the income taxed by both states.

[dhy08sl]

Thank you so much! I Couldn't appreciate it more. Have a wonderful day!