I live year-round in Missouri and have done so for several years as a resident of that state. However, I work as a fully remote, full-time employee of a university near Denver, Colorado, and that is my primary source of income (W2).
Do I need to file a state tax return for Colorado, as well as Missouri?
(This seems like a simple question, but I keep finding confusing information on the subject, especially when scanning the "Non-Resident Information" section of Colorado's tax website!)
No you do not have to file a Colorado income tax return for remote work performed in Missouri for a Colorado company.
Colorado says: Wages and unemployment compensation are Colorado-source income if the employee was physically present in Colorado when performing the work.
Appreciate that reply, and it confirms what my gut has been telling me.
Still not sure, though, why TurboTax itself is encouraging me to do a nonresident tax return for Colorado: "Based on your federal return, you still may need to prepare a return for Colorado."
Why would that ^ be the case? Why doesn't it just ask me if I was physically present in Colorado when performing my work and remove the (stressful!) lack of clarity?
I think I might've found the issue... so, near the start of the "My Info" section, it asks, "Did either of you make money in any other states?"
I answered that "Yes" initially since all of my income comes from an employer in CO, but I should've answered, "No," since I never physically worked in that state.
I think that some additional explanatory language should be added to that section, to help guide the huge wave of remote, out-of-state employees that now exist in the country. (CO's own tax website is similarly confusing on the subject.)