domicile and state taxes

[shaba137]

I'm very confused on how to answer "did I live in another state in 2021 and also how that will affect my state filing.

From January through May of 2021 I was employed and resided in IL. In May of 2021 I accepted a new federal position UT.
My plan was to live in an extended stay motel until I could find a new apartment or home to rent in UT. Well, due to a disastrous number of unforeseen circumstances, not the least of which was not being able to find an affordable place to live in Utah, I returned to my old position in Illinois in September of 2021. I never established a residency in Utah. I stayed in that extended stay motel the entire time. I DID pay Utah state taxes though, as it was expected I would eventually settle in. During that time my legal residence remained Illinois but it does not appear I paid IL state taxes. 
Very confusing, messy situation.
And my questions would be - did I overpay to Utah since I never established a residency out there and does that mean I would owe Illinois? Also, do I answer "yes" to "I lived in another state"? in 2021? Is the definition of "lived" establishing a legal residency?
Thanks for any assistance

[LeonardS]

The question is asked by the software to help determine if you need to file multiple state tax returns.  If you have income earned while you were in Utah then you likely will have to file a Utah return as well as an Illinois return.  You will only know if you overpaid Utah when you have completed your tax returns.  If you did overpay Utah then you will receive the overpayment as a refund.

[SteamTrain]

Opinion: parsing the tax software flow.

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Yes, the "Lived in"  question is for a permanent change of domicile from/to another state.  So that's a NO for your situation and you should consider IL your domicile for the entire year.

1) Desktop Software?:  at the bottom of the "Personal Info" page there is an "Other state Income" for you to go into to indicate you had income in another state...Utah.

2) Online Software?:  Similarly the Personal Info section is usually labeled "My Info" .  And, again, at the bottom of  that page there is an "Other state Income" for you to go into to indicate you had income in another state...Utah.

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Doing that will trigger the Non-resident UT tax return. 

After yoru Federal tax return is entirely filled in, you need to do the UT non-resident tax return next.  They should only tax your UT wages while working there. 

Then the IL tax return is prepared last, and you'll then have a section to take an IL credit for any UT taxes that UT kept from whatever they withheld....( or including any extra you had to pay UT if you owed them more)