Are you required to pay state income tax in Indiana on wages earned in Indiana if you don't live there the whole year?

[Jamie-OK]

Last year we filed with a tax professional and he took a look at our 2015 return and told us we could amend the Indiana return because we weren't required to pay Indiana income taxes because we didn't live in Indiana for all of 2015. We also didn't live in Indiana for all of 2017 so I'm hoping we are also eligible to not pay IN income tax. I can't really find anything online saying you're not required to pay state income tax if you were only a part-year resident so I'm trying to figure out on what basis our tax professional decided to amend our return and get us more money back from our 2015 Indiana return??

[KarenJ]

I am not sure why your tax professional said you didn't have to pay Indiana income taxes in 2015.  I would suggest that you call him and ask him to explain the reason to you.  

Part-year Indiana residents must file an Indiana individual income tax return (Form IT-40PNR). They are subject to tax on that part of their total federal income that was received while they were residents of Indiana. In addition, they are also taxable on income from Indiana sources received while they were nonresidents of Indiana.   

Five states have a reciprocal agreement with the state of Indiana. They are Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. All salaries, wages, tips, and commissions earned in these states by an Indiana resident must be reported as if they were earned in Indiana. A credit cannot be taken for any taxes withheld by or paid to any of these states in connection with income from salaries, wages, tips, and commissions. If taxes have been withheld or paid to any of these states, a claim for refund should be filed with that state by filing that particular state’s income tax form for nonresidents.  

[Hal_Al]

The year 2106 seems to be missing from your question. That makes me think you moved into IN in 2015 and moved out in 2017.
Things are handled differently depending on what other state your lived in (reciprocal or non reciprocal) and whether you were a full year or part year resident of which states for those years

[okeeffejamie88]

Yeah you’re right. 2015 we went Massachusetts to Indiana. Full time Indiana residents for 2016. And then we moved from Indiana to Europe in 2017. So don’t think there’s any agreements between Mass and Indiana? I would ask the guy who filed our 2016 and amended our 2015 but we’ve already told him we’re not using him this year because he’s too expensive, lol. Eastern European wages aren’t the same!

[Hal_Al]

For 2105 you should have file part year resident return for both MA and IN. If you did not file a MA return, you are not entitled to a refund from IN. They will tax all your income, unless some of it was taxed by another state. MA & IN do not have an agreement.

For 2017, you file a part year IN return. But they may not accept it. When you move to a foreign country, many states considered you to still be a resident, for tax purposes.