topic Re: New York State Yonkers Residency Test in State tax filing

New York State Yonkers Residency Test

vduran031420 — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 19:47:29 GMT

My husband I moved to a new apartment in Yonkers, NY beginning 10/15/2020. My job/employer is also located in Yonkers, NY. With this being said, we have the following questions regarding our tax return:

For Yonkers’s residency purposes, would we be considered Yonkers Non-residents or part-year residents? According to the Yonkers residency test, you have to maintain a permanent place of abode in Yonkers and spend 184 days to be considered a Yonkers resident.

Also, is the question “Did you have an apartment or other home in Yonkers while a non-resident of Yonkers in 2020?” referring to the part of the year where I did not live in Yonkers (meaning that I was a non-resident at that point)?

For the earned income from Yonkers sources portion, how do I allocate the wages I made in Yonkers or do I even need to? My W-2 already has a Local Income Tax amount in Box 19 with the locality name designated as Yonkers, NY in Box 20. Currently we have chosen the option “Earned 100% as nonresident” but we’re not sure if this is correct.

Re: New York State Yonkers Residency Test

LenaH — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 16:40:48 GMT

No. The 184 day residency test is to determine if you were full-year residents of New York State.

You and your husband were full-year NYS residents and part-year residents of Yonkers because you moved to Yonkers in the middle of the year. Therefore, you would be part-year residents of Yonkers from 10/15/2020-12/31/2020.

Please follow the instructions below:

Open your return.
Click on State.
Edit your NYS return.
On the page Tell Us Your New York County, choose Westchester.
Enter your school district.
On the page Your City Residency Information, edit the field for you and your spouse and choose part-year Yonkers residents.
On the page Yonkers Sourced Income, answer Yes if you earned Yonkers sourced income while not a resident of Yonkers (during 1/1-10/14/21) or answer No if you did not earn Yonkers sourced income while not a resident of Yonkers.
For the screen Living Quarters in Yonkers, answer No (I am assuming you did not have a living quarters while not living in Yonkers during 10/15-12/31).
On the Allocate City Income screen, you will have to allocate the income you received (such as interest and dividends) that were received throughout the year, including while you were a Yonkers resident. Since you moved in mid-October, you would use .5 month for October and a full month for November and December. This is 2.5 months/12, which would be an allocation factor of approximately 20.8%. Multiply this by the amounts in the federal column. For items that were strictly not Yonkers sourced, you can enter $0. For items that were completely Yonkers sourced, enter the full amount.
Continue through your return.

[Edited 4/21/21 l 9:40AM PST]

Re: New York State Yonkers Residency Test

vduran031420 — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 13:20:50 GMT

Hi Lena,

Thank you for your response! I need a bit of clarification on a few items mentioned:

7. On the page Yonkers Sourced Income, answer Yes if you earned Yonkers sourced income while not a resident of Yonkers (during 10/15-12/31) or answer No if you did not earn Yonkers sourced income while not a resident of Yonkers.

We were non-residents of Yonkers from 1/1/2020-10/14/2020 instead of the 10/15-12/31mentioned above. Also, my job was located in Yonkers, NY for the entire year so wouldn't the answer to this question be Yes?

9. On the Allocate City Income screen, you will have to allocate the income you received (such as interest and dividends) that were received throughout the year, including while you were a Yonkers resident. Since you moved in mid-October, you would use .5 month for October and a full month for November and December. This is 2.5 months/12, which would be an allocation factor of approximately 20.8%. Multiply this by the amounts in the federal column. For items that were strictly not Yonkers sourced, you can enter $0. For items that were completely Yonkers sourced, enter the full amount.

Is this a Yonkers residency question, a Yonkers Sourced income question, or both? I understand that we should allocate my wages received by a factor of 20.8% because we were only residents for 2.5 months of the year. This I understand but what if my entire wages were completely Yonkers sourced? How does the 20.80% come into play?

Would my husband have to allocate his wages as well? His wages were sourced from NYC, not Yonkers. I'm assuming the selection for this part of the return would be "Don't allocate this employer".

Re: New York State Yonkers Residency Test

LenaH — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 16:59:59 GMT

Please see my answers below to your questions for Step 7 & 9:

That is correct. You would answer Yes to this question since you had Yonkers sourced income when you were not a resident between 1/1-10/14.
If you are a Yonkers resident, you are subject to Yonkers tax during that time period. For example: If you received $1,000 in interest income during 2020, then technically, 20.8% of that income was received during the period in which you were a Yonkers resident. Please keep in mind that this tax also applies to any services performed or employment in New York City or elsewhere in New York State during the time you were a Yonkers resident.

Lastly, as long as your husband lived in Yonkers and work in NYC, he will also be taxed by Yonkers on your NY State return during the period of your Yonkers residency. He will not be taxed in NYC for simply working in NYC. He does not have Yonkers sourced wages, but if he is a resident of Yonkers, he is still subject to Yonkers tax.

@vduran031420

Re: New York State Yonkers Residency Test

vduran031420 — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 04:36:22 GMT

Thanks so much Lena!

I wanted to also ask about my W-2 which already has a Yonkers Local Income Tax amount in Box 19 with the locality designated as Yonkers, NY in Box 20. Is this tax amount the employers portion of tax withheld from my wages for the job being located in Yonkers, NY?

Also, my husband’s W-2 shows NYC tax in Box 19 with a locality designated as New York City. I’m assuming we take his full wages and multiply it by the 20.80% to get the Yonkers tax amount for being a part year resident of Yonkers?

Re: New York State Yonkers Residency Test

LenaH — Tue, 27 Apr 2021 13:31:09 GMT

No, the amount in Box 19 of your W-2 is the amount withheld from your paycheck for Yonkers tax for the year.

The amount withheld from your husband's W-2 will flow to your NYS return as tax withheld. However, why did his employer withhold NYC tax? Was he a NYC resident at any point of the year. If so, this will need to be indicated on your return as well.

The only portion of your husband's pay that is subject to Yonkers tax is the amount he earned in which he was a resident of Yonkers. You should not see his income appear on the Income Allocation screens. Rather, as you are completing your return, you should see a question regarding his Yonkers sourced income, in which you would enter No for this question. You do have to enter Yes on the following screen, Yonkers Resident Tax, which states that he is subject to the tax while a resident. On the screen that summarizes his wages for Yonkers, click Edit next to his W-2. If you go through these screens, you can allocate his wages by percent because he earned part while a resident and part while a nonresident.

@vduran031420