topic Other state tax paid and refund from nonresident state in State tax filing

Other state tax paid and refund from nonresident state

Lavien — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 05:00:02 GMT

I live in California and earned small W-2 income in Michigan as a nonresident. As state tax was withheld by Michigan, I first prepared Michigan return then California. I entered on other state tax paid manually. Credit applied and reduced my tax liability to California (slightly smaller amount than Michigan tax) but I still see refund on Michigan return. Am I handling this correctly? Didn't I need to enter other state tax credit if nonresident state tax is refund? I thought that I receive credit on California return and no refund from Michigan. Thank you for your help!

Re: Other state tax paid and refund from nonresident state

DavidD66 — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 05:05:14 GMT

If you are receiving a credit for 100% of the tax that was withheld for Michigan tax then you should not claim a credit on your California return for tax paid to another state. The "tax paid" to Michigan would be the tax liability, not the amount withheld. You should receive a Michigan refund and no credit from California (if you get a refund of all tax withheld).

Re: Other state tax paid and refund from nonresident state

Lavien — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 05:08:32 GMT

Hi David, thank you for your very quick response! I now fully understand how other state tax paid works. I remove it and wait a refund check from Michigan. Thank you for schooling me!