Filing state taxes with no permanent address

[jenr19]

My husband and I lived in Massachusetts from January 2021 until June 30th 2021. We both worked in Massachusetts during that time, but once we moved out of MA we continued to earn from the same MA based employers for an additional two months (July and August). We traveled during July, August, and had no permanent address. We then moved to Colorado in late September 2021. With the above in mind, I am unsure how to proceed here. Do we owe taxes to any state for the earnings in July and August 2021? And how do we make note of this in our Massachusetts tax return?

[TomD8]

For tax purposes, you're considered residents of MA until you became residents of CO.  You became residents of CO for tax purposes when you begin living there with the intent (as demonstrated by your actions) of making it your permanent home.  Your income prior to that date would remain taxable by MA.

[jenr19]

Hi TomD8, thanks for the prompt reply!

With your answer in mind, we should state our MA residency dates as Jan 1st - September 23rd (9/23 is the day we moved into our CO residency), when filing the MA return?

[ErnieS0]

Correct. You were Massachusetts residents until September 22  (if you became CO residents on September 23).

As outstanding Tax Champ @TomD8 said, changing residency is a two step process — you must abandon your old residence and establish a new one.

By moving away from MA in June you abandoned your old residence, but you did not establish a new one until September so you remained MA residents during the transition.

[jenr19]

Excellent, thank you so much for your help! I finished my taxes! 🙂